Aap’axdm Na Txa Amhaw Hlagyigyedm
We Remember the Voices of All Our Ancestors, 2024

This Ravenstail Dance Ensemble was juried into the 67th Annual Indian Fair and Market Best of Show Competition and awarded First Place (Carol Ann Mackay) – Weaving and Textiles Cultural Attire by Laura Allen

A Tsimshian adaawx speaks of a time of famine when a smooygit's wife was hiding preserved salmon in case the situation became more desperate. Her son, unused to prolonged hunger, snuck into her hiding place, stole a piece of the salmon for himself, and hid the evidence.

Subsequently the young noble was kidnapped by salmon people and taken to their smooygit. The salmon chief shared that he had been weak for a long time, unable to lead his people on their annual return to the waterways near the young prince’s village. The actions the łguwaalksik took to hide his thievery had returned the salmon chief's remains to the land and restored some of his strength.

The salmon chief and his people kept the young noble for enough time to remind him of the ways the Tsimshian and salmon people had been in good relationship in the past. They taught him what he needed to help his people return to his relationship with the salmon people and returned him to his home.

The łguwaalksik shared his experience with his village, taught the Tsimshian people all he had learned, and convinced his mother to share the preserved salmon and return the rest of the salmon smooygit's remains to the land in the way of their ancestors. Afterward, the salmon smooygit regained his full strength and led his people's return to the waterways, ending the famine for the Tsimshian people.

Modeled after the combinational Three Panelled Robe and inspired by the Tsimshian adaawx of the prince taken by the salmon people, the patterns in the compact Ravenstail ensemble Aap’axdm Na Txa Amhaw Łagyigyedm record the story of Northwest Coastal People gathering together with water, spirit, and plant relatives to greet the returning salmon.

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Artist Bio

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Ksm Lx'sg̱a̱n, Ruth Hallows