Those fortunate enough to visit Seattle starting 24 October, will have the thrill of a lifetime in the art world. Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is opening an exhibit "S'abadeb — The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists". There is a good review in The Seattle Times. The importance of this exhibit cannot be understated: this was a collaboration of the members of 70 Native American and First Nation groups whose territory enclosed the current cities of Seattle and Vancouver and Victoria, B. C. The choice of objects to be shown, how they were to be explained, what was present by its absence (sacred and other private items)was dictated to the curator of the show. This is an exhibit, not of a bygone civilization, but a vibrant,living, thriving culture with much to share and teach those of us present in their ancestral homeland.
