Rounding into port – Qagyhl

Description

The primitive Kwakiutl sail for canvas was a sheet of cedar-bark matting, and on catamarans a large, square section of thin boards was propped up against the wind. Canvas is now used. The painting on the canoe at the left represents “sisiutl”, the mythical double-headed serpent. The carved figure-heads of the middle canoe and the one on the right are respectively an eagle and a bear. The bear canoe is further embellished with highly conventionalized paintings of the head, flipper and tail of a whale.