Featured artists
The 51³Ô¹Ï commissioned the following artists to create works for the First Peoples House.
Additional two-dimensional art works displayed in the First Peoples House are co-ordinated by and change annually.
Rande Cook (Kwakwaka'wakw)
Rande Cook was born on May 26, 1977, in Alert Bay, a small fishing village on Cormorant Island, situated on the northeastern coast of Vancouver Island. He was raised by his grandparents Gus and Florence Maltipi, and takes the Sun, Kolus and Sisiutul as his predominant family crest symbols. During his early years, Cook's grandfather discussed Kwakwaka'wakw traditional art forms with him, and Cook soon developed a passion for creating both Indigenous and Western art pieces.
Cook apprenticed with Master Carver John Livingston, who took the young Cook under his wing and helped open opportunities for him. In recent years, Cook has become skilled at jewellery making, inspired by the jewellery works of his cousin, Patrick Seaweed, and his brother, William Cook Jr.
Cook's work can be found in the Ceremonial Hall of the First Peoples House. His panels are carved out of red cedar painted with red, grey, green and black latex paint. They depict Thunderbird, Raven, Killer Whale and Wolf.
Moy ("Morris") Sutherland Jr. (Nuu-chah-nulth)
Morris Sutherland Jr. has ancestry in the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nations. Born January 4, 1974 Sutherland grew up steeped in his Nuu-chah-nulth culture and traditions. He holds two Native names: his Nuu-chah-nulth name is "Hiish Miik", meaning "someone who gets whatever they are going after", and his second name is "Chiotun", a Coast Salish name meaning "someone who helps".
Encouraged by family and friends, Sutherland began his artistic career in 1995. He has studied carving with artist Joe Wilson, his uncle Mark Mickey (also a well-known carver) and the world-renowned artist Art Thompson. Sutherland has also worked alongside his friend, artist Carey Newman, in Newman's Blue Raven Gallery in T'sou-ke.
Sutherland's work is displayed in the Ceremonial Hall of the First Peoples House. His red cedar panels, which feature an original design, were first sandblasted by hand before being hand painted red and black.
Luke Marston
Luke Marston was born in 1976 to Jane and David Marston, both experienced carvers who served as his first teachers along with artist Wayne Young. Marston continued his education with carver Simon Charlie, who taught him about his people's history and traditional stories. Marston later assisted Charlie with the carving of four house posts for a public school in Seattle. He has also worked with carvers Jonathan Henderson and Sean Whonnock on a totem pole for the Royal British Columbia Museum's Thunderbird Park in 51³Ô¹Ï.
Marston created four panels made from hand sandblasted red cedar that appear in the Ceremonial Hall of the First Peoples House. Hand painted grey, red, green, white and blue, Marston's panels display two different original designs, each presented in reverse. Two panels display a heron with a frog in its wing and the other two, an eagle and a salmon.
Doug Lafortune
Doug Lafortune was born in Bellingham, WA, in 1953. After attending school in 51³Ô¹Ï, he studied Fine Arts at Camosun College in 1970 then enrolled in a heavy equipment operator's course and began work in logging. A visit to carver Simon Charlie's workshop sparked a desire in Lafortune to pursue his art, and he worked with Charlie to develop his unique and distinctive contemporary style.
Lafortune created two traditional freestanding cedar welcome figures that line the main entrance to the First Peoples House. The figure on the right represents a traditional Coast Salish man with a boy, and the figure on the left displays a tradi