Preston Singletary’s Raven and the Box of Daylight

By Sarah Dees

 

“Nass Shaak Aankáawu (Nobleman at the Head of the Nass River) was hoarding many treasures, including the light. When Yéil (Raven) learned that the man had a daughter who drank from a stream every morning, Yéil turned himself into a hemlock or spruce needle and floated into her cup. She drank him, became pregnant, and Yéil, born in human form, became the love of their lives. Nass Shaak Aankáawu provided every luxury and toy to his precocious grandson. When the child cried for the boxes that held the stars, the moon, and the sun, his grandfather could not refuse him. One by one, Yéil T’ukanéiyi (Raven Baby) incessantly cried for and released the stars, the moon, and the daylight, much to the dismay of Nass Shaak Aankáawu but much to the benefit of the people and animals of the world. Realizing he was the victim of extreme deceit, Nass Shaak Aankáawu forever marked Yéil by holding him in the smoke of the fireplace, altering his color, turning him from the white spiritual being into the black color he is today (Preston Singletary, in the Raven and the Box of Daylight exhibition catalog).”

This is one version of a Tlingit story about Raven, a trickster figure who features prominently in tales of Native Northwest nations. It is a creation story that offers an account, from a distant epoch, of how the world came to be as it is. For the Tlingit, these stories are known as tlaagú, “eternal or epic stories of the long ago, or primordial period” (see Thomas Thornton). Among Northwest Coast nations, Raven plays an important role in many of these stories as a shaper of the environment. He has many powers and does good in some stories, but he is also flawed and capable of making trouble. This story explains why the light emanates from celestial bodies and the reason ravens are pitch black. Stories like this are significant to Indigenous communities because they offer insights into humanity and the natural world. They also tie nations’ cultural history to specific places and offer valuable moral lessons.

This story also serves as the foundation for Tlingit glass artist Preston Singletary’s solo exhibition Raven and the Box of Daylight. The exhibit was initially curated by Miranda Shkík Belarde-Lewis, PhD (Tlingit/Zuni) for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, where it was on view from October 3, 2018 to September 2, 2019. It subsequently traveled to the Wichita Art Museum in Kansas (February 1, 2020 – January 17, 2021); the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC (January 28, 2022 – January 29, 2023); and the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia (March 3 – July 2, 2023). The exhibit was most recently on view at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art until April 28, 2024.

I was able to visit the exhibit twice, at the Wichita Art Museum in November of 2020, and again in December 2023 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I am thankful for the chance to have seen it twice. Even knowing at the outset that the exhibit is based around the Raven story, this type of exhibit is so unique that I initially was more focused on the individual works of art. I was able to better grasp the interconnectedness of the exhibit’s many aspects upon my second viewing.

Singletary’s glass sculptures

This multi-sensory exhibit features dozens of Singletary’s remarkably crafted glass sculptures. The exhibit invites visitors to step into the world in which the story occurred and follow along as it unfolds. The exhibit design facilitates this through the use of decorative backdrops, color, sound, video, and, of course, lighting. Entering the exhibit, visitors are enveloped by darkness, as if transported back to the primordial Northwest Coast landscape. Beaded screens with dimly lit mountain ranges and trees create an enchanting backdrop of the mountainous region where Raven lived. The natural sounds of the temperate rainforest hum quietly in the background, adding to an atmosphere of quiet suspension. A glass statue of a snow-white Raven greets visitors as they enter the space. Behind him is bold text that announces: “Before here was here, Raven was only named Yéil. He was a white bird and the world was in darkness.”

Rather than simply recounting the story, Raven and the Box of Daylight seeks to bring it to life. Different halls throughout the exhibit offer the backdrop for scenes in the story. An early room of the exhibit sets up the scene of the Nass River, at the head of which lived the wealthy nobleman who hoarded the light for himself. An incredible full-size canoe and oars made of glass are placed in front of a blue glass river. Full-size glass salmon figures are positioned along the river. These pieces are all designed in traditional Northwest Coast “formline” style, a styled design that is characteristic of this region. In this area, the exhibit texts explains how Raven turned himself into a spruce needle in order to trick the nobleman’s daughter into ingesting him.

Another early exhibit room represents the home of the nobleman. In this room, visitors meet Nass Shaak Aankáawu and his daughter. These pieces are collaborations between Singletary, who created the heads of the sculptures, and fiber artists whose fine clothing is displayed on wooden models. A few larger glass sculptures represent architectural elements of the clan house. Many smaller glass pieces are displayed, representing the wealth of the family. They can afford many fine objects: represented by baskets, hats, a comb, a spoon. From the main room of the house, against the background of the nobleman’s wealth, the story of the precocious young raven-child is recounted.

The exhibit proceeds as visitors enter into a dimly-lit room containing the three boxes filled with precious light. One box represents the moon, another the sun, and another the stars. We learn how Raven set the light free by opening up the boxes, one by one. After releasing the light, Raven transformed himself back into the form of a bird, at which point his grandfather realized Raven’s deceit and held him in the sooty smoke. A glass sculpture of a black Raven releasing the sun represents Raven’s transformation at the hands of his grandfather. This change signifies the sacrifice he made so that the entire world would have access to the sun, moon, and stars.

The new world that Raven brought about, drenched in light, created new possibilities for all of those in existence. However, they did not all initially embrace this new development. Some were startled by the light, and they transformed into different types of beings. The exhibit text explains how “those wearing animal regalia [ran] to the woods and [became] The Animal People. Those wearing bird regalia [jumped] into the sky and [became] The Winged People. Those wearing water animal regalia [became] The Water People. Those who remained strong (and stubborn) [became] Human People.” To represent the division of persons into different forms, the final, large room of the exhibit is brightly lit and contains a variety of sculptures representing different types of animals. However, all of the figures have a similar basic form, which is in the shape of a human. The design of each sculpture includes features representing the characteristics of the animal. This powerfully signifies the connectedness of humans with other living creatures of the land, sky, and waters.

Art in the Northwestern Coast

Among Northwestern Coast nations, art is closely tied to society and culture. Indigenous cultures of this region are often socially stratified, and art reflects social standing. According to scholars of Indigenous art Janet Berlo and Ruth Phillips, in this region, “visual art and performance are integral to the narration of family histories.” In addition, Northwest Coast art historically was connected to ceremonial practices. Artistic traditions from this area extend back thousands of years, with some prominent aspects of the tradition, including the “formline” feature emerging by 800 B.C.E. (211). Drawing on the archaeological record, scholars argue that by 1000 C.E., many of the characteristics of art had been established. Formats of traditional art include two-dimensional art: paintings and carvings; sculpture, from vessels and smaller objects to cabinets and large totem poles; and textiles, including weavings, clothing made from animals and plant materials. One of the most widely recognized forms of Tlingit art might be woodcarving, including the massive totem poles that the region is famous for. According to Tlingit scholar Rosita Kaaháni Worl, while people in the Northwest coast value aesthetic qualities of art, its greater value lies in its “sacred and social significance.”

While glass was not a traditional Northwest Coast medium, it is a particularly well-suited medium to illuminate the story about darkness and light. He began working as a glass artist in 1982, “as a job essentially,” and then over time learned skills from others and developed his own practices. He started applying Tlingit designs to glass using a sandblasting technique in the late 1980s. Singletary is from Seattle, Washington. He is of European descent on his father’s side, and Tlingit and Filipino descent on his mother’s side. Although he was raised outside of the community, he describes his Tlingit culture as most strongly influencing his own sense of identity. He is inspired especially by his maternal great-grandmother, Susie Johnson Bartlett Gubatayo. Singletary’s culture inspires his art, but the process through which he developed the glass art he is now known for developed organically.

The exhibition came about out of a collaboration between Singletary and Walter Porter (1944-2013), a Tlingit elder, knowledge-keeper, and comparative mythologist who had studied Raven stories for decades. The two met at the National Museum of the American Indian in 2004 and began a conversation about bringing the story of Raven to life with glass art. Porter was especially interested in the symbolism of the Raven story and encouraged Singletary to convey cultural meaning as well as beauty. The story was central to the exhibit from the beginning. Sadly, Porter passed away before the exhibit had been fully realized. Curator Miranda Shkík Belard-Lewis, PhD, a Zuni and Tlingit curator and scholar of Indigenous knowledge, was brought on board to see the exhibit to fruition. Building on the work started by Porter, Belard-Lewis and Singletary pored over many versions of the Raven story. As it has been passed down orally for many generations, there are many versions of the Raven story. Together, decided upon the version they would recount in the exhibit. It was important to Singletary to incorporate cultural symbolism into the exhibit.

Ultimately, Raven and the Box of Daylight is unique in how the individual pieces were inspired by the story of Raven. Indigenous art is often rich in symbolism, containing cultural commentary, history, and beliefs as well as visually aesthetic qualities. In the exhibit, Singletary’s artwork successfully recounts the narrative in a unique, immersive experience. In creating art out of glass, a nontraditional form, but that is very much inspired by culture, this exhibit exemplifies the creativity and complexity of contemporary Indigenous art.

References

Berlo, Janet Catherine and Ruth B. Phillips. Native North American Art, 2^nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Singletary, Preston (Tlingit). Raven and the Box of Daylight (exhibit catalog). Tacoma: Museum of Glass, 2019.

Worl, Rosita Kaaháni (Tlingit). “The Significance of the Art and At.óow of the Tlingit of Southeast Alaska.” In the Guidelines for German Museums: Care of Collections from Colonial Contexts, 123-8. German Museums Association, 2021.

Thornton, Thomas F., Douglas Deur and Bert Adams (Yatutat Tlingit), “Raven’s’ Work in Tlingit Ethno-geography.” In Language and Toponymy in Alaska and Beyond: Papers in Honor of James Kari (Language Documentation and Conservation Special Publication No. 17), edited by Gary Holton and Thomas F. Thornton, 39-55. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019.

All work at The Commons is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

 

Dr. Sarah Dees (She/Her) Dr. Sarah Dees is an ethnohistorian of religion, race, and culture in (and beyond) the United States. Her scholarship primarily focuses on the representation of Native American and Indigenous religions in political, scientific, and popular realms. Her research and teaching areas include American religions; Indigenous religions; religion and museums; religion, race, and empire; method and theory in the study of religion; and religion, law, and politics. Editor, Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, & Belief, you can learn more about her on her website: sarahedees.com