Richard “Tomahawk” Thomas artist profile – First Nation Cultural Art Showcase Identity: Art as Life – TimberWest
Sep 11, 2017
Snuneymuxw First Nation
Coast Salish Territory
Mediums: carving in red and yellow cedar.
Richard “Tomahawk” Thomas grew up outside Nanaimo in Cedar with the Snuneymux First Nation. His memory of that time is filled with bitter-sweet fondness. “We were poor. My dad was a fisherman, a gill-netter, but we made the most of it. I remember my dad taking me fishing in Alert Bay one year on the fishing boat, and seeing all the carvings along the shore. It was beautiful. That was a good memory. I wanted to know more of that side of our culture, but it would be years before I really got to explore why I was so attracted to those pieces.”
