Bikki Sunzawa Visits British Columbia
Vancouver, Skidegate (Haida Gwaii), ‘Ksan, and Gitanyow Canada / Turtle Island While on a trip to Hokkaido in the Summer of 1983, the University of British Columbia professor Douglas Sanders, who was studying Ainu activism, made the acquaintance of the renowned Ainu carver, painter, and sculptor Bikki Sunazawa. While Bikki’s art had featured Ainu themes up to this out, and both of his parents had been prominent in the Ainu community—his mother Peramonkoro was a textile artist and his father Ichitarō was an organiser—he was not fully comfortable with his Ainu identity at this time. Seeing this, Sanders invited Bikki to visit British Columbia and offered to introduce him to Indigenous artists there. Bikki arrived in Vancouver in Fall 1983, and had soon travelled all across the province. He worked with the legendary Haida artist Bill Reid in his workshop, before being taken up north to visit a Gitsxan art school in ‘Ksan, where he was impressed by the adzes used in carving there. On the way back, Bill Reid invited him to a potlatch at Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, the Haida people’s island homeland. Inspired, Bikki spent the rest of the trip preparing and presenting an exhibition, “Images of British Columbia”, composed of pieces darawing on the Indigenous Northwest Coast style. Thse included a painting, “Indian Dance A”, depicting the Haida potlatch, and the sculpture “The Watchman”, which he carved using an adze in the Gitsxan style. Bikki returned to Japan in January 1984 a changed and inspired man, who no longer felt uncomfortable with his Ainu identity but fully embraced it. Sources Dubreuil, Chisato O. (2004) From The Playground of the Gods: The Life & Art of Bikky Sunzawa
Ainu Delegation Visit Neskolith Nation
Chase, British Columbia, Canada / Turtle Island After being invited by Inuit visitors to Japan in 1977 to tour North America, twenty-four members of the the Ainu Society for Self Advancement set out in late 1978. This journey is understood to be the first time that Ainu representatives visited North America for the purpose of engaging with other Indigenous peoples. On September 8, the Ainu delegation were hosted in the Neskonlith Hall in Chase, BC, by representatives from the Secwépemc nations including the Neskonlith, Skwlax, and Sexqeltqin. After eating together, the Ainu visitors shared in a Secwépemc-language prayer, and then conducted a hunting ritual of their own. They exchanged gifts, ate ice cream, and Ainu leader Tokuhei Narita handed out cigarettes. Talking through an interpreter, Tokuhei Narita and Neskonlith leader George Manuel discussed the challenges of poverty and language loss faced by the Ainu in Japan and the Secwépemc people in Canada. Manuel gave a speech explaining the gains made by Canadian Indigenous peoples over the last few decades, saying: “These facts were brought out to make you realise our common bond”. Sources Lex’yem, August (1978). Native Indians from Japan. Pg. 35. Accessed through UBCIC archive. Indians Today (Neskainlith Newsletter), (October, 1978). Ainu, Indian People share experiences. No page numbers. Accessed through UBCIC archives.