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Aboriginal Artwork

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Aboriginal artwork is one of the oldest forms of artwork. Ancient pictographs and rock drawings dating back to 40,000 - 60,000 years have been uncovered at ancient campsites belonging to First Nation tribes. People of the Aboriginal community have relied on elders and pictures for millenniums as a method of storytelling in replacement of writing, however artwork was, and still is, integrated into ancient and modern day First Nation Tribes.

Body painting has a very spiritual meaning for Indigenous peoples. In the past, when First Nation individuals created body art, it represented their social position and their relations to their family and friend groups. During their ceremonial dances, many Aboriginal people’s appearance would completely change in efforts to transform and ‘become’ the spirit ancestor they are portraying in their dance. In many clans, young boys’ and men's bodies are painted on the arms, chest and torso in tones similar to those of the earth, including beige, brown, yellow, rusty red, and black. The main reason for the more-so earthy tones is to showcase the strong relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the environment.

A lot of the Aboriginal artwork that we see in our area is artwork from First Nations people of the Northwest Coast region. The artwork is characterized by the oval shapes used - such as ‘S’ and ‘U’. The colours are fairly consistent with those of other artwork in different areas, using black, red, white and sometimes yellow to accentuate the piece of work. Many of the things drawn/painted/sculpted are linked to the environment. The subjects included are things such as bears, eagles, humans, ravens, and even thunderbirds.

In almost all Aboriginal art, there is a strong link to the environment. The First Nations utilise a variety of surfaces to create their artwork on. At first, it was the faces of rocks and bark and

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