We are preparing to arrive at our  imminent deadline. Here are some pictures of Michael  at work on RED.  RED, published by Douglas & McIntyre is  one of the world’s largest comic books. Presented in its book form as 108 pages of fullwatercolour and ink in the Haida manga style it is also a mural. For imperial holdouts that means the mural measures in at 14 ft X 6 ft. Metrically advanced would see a 3.9 m X 1.7m.  While RED is large it is only a mere 6.6 sq meters compared to the European grand daddy the Bayeaux Tapestry which measures in at a very impressive 35 sq m!

Flight of the Hummingbird is flying very well. We have finished Raven’s Call and are waiting for the website team. I will update here and in a direct email alert to anyone requesting a personal update. Send request “Update me for Haida Anime” in subject to: mny@island.net.

We are also looking at going back to the Flight Anime which really is a beta and throwing in some serious audio tracks and additional video detailing.

mny

MUSIC VIDEO review
source: http://brettnissen.blogspot.com/2009/01/paper-lions-cdb-fresh-video.html

CHANGE THE TITLE…please

I enjoy Paper Lion and given their collection of east coast nominations it is obvious that they have earned a loyal and growing number of fans.

But.
As I watched the video “Queen Charlotte of the Hyenas” ( Jan 02, 2009) by Paper Lion ( http://www.paperlionsmusic.com ), I kept looking at that crown wearing animal head prop.
It suddenly seemed that the Animal head designed as a Hyena was that of a bear.
Leaving aside the notion that a “Hyena” is just a-all-too-clever way to advance the Band’s name and considering that Paper Lion did write the song on the Queen Charlotte Islands (sic), the lyrics also appear to call out for such a reclassification.

Once the prop was a Bear, the music video became connected to place.
Good music, good lyrics and image blended together as an orchestrated relevance and left me with a richer musical experience.

Why would it matter if the Hyena was a Bear?
It matters because the band has announced that they wrote the song while on the Queen Charlotte Islands.
It matters because the band names the song “Queen Charlotte….”
It matters because fans are complex intelligent people.

So let’s meet the Queen Charlotte Bear.
It is an endemic species that is this Bear is found no where else on the planet.
It is the largest black bear in the world and there have being times, some very recent when Bear and Man lived together.
The Bear mother is one of the most ancient and iconic clan symbols for Haida and most Indigenous Peoples of the coastline of the eastern Pacific.
The Bear mother is also the formative myth for Korea and parts of Siberia and Japan.

More recently Bears would often drop by for a visit and to show off their cubs to Gerry Hawke who lived in Queen Charlotte City. The Hawke house had been built on the end of a Bear trail by Gerry’s parents. They and the Bears had discovered a way to live and accommodate one another. Gerry grew up in a rare closeness and comfort with the Bears. For most of his life this is a story of magic and wonder. Sadly the story is also profoundly tragic. Gerry’s friends were killed one by one, first by a frightened neighbor and later by the Province of BC.  Fear is a destructive force and once unleashed it claimed Gerry’s death at his own hand and amongst the bodies of his slain friends. The Province of BC confirmed its role as a dark character by issuing a license to commercially kill Bears on the Queen Charlotte Islands.

While this recreational kill obviously raises issues that illuminates a deep cultural disconnect, and while we remember the last time the Province and the Haidas squared off in the forest, Canadian residents of the archipelago are also apparently somewhat disgusted by the idea of rich men leaving their distant homes and jetting in to pay money to kill Bears for fun.

Yes Bears are a very big issue on the Queen Charlottes and it is hard to imagine that a group of fine musicians could be there and not be aware of the Bear.

A reworking of the title to Queen Charlotte of the Bear would position the video as a direct socially relevant comment rather than just a good song.
Otherwise the narrative in the video appears much disjointed from its namesake island and remains just the latest good piece of musical offering from the Paper Lion.

michael nicoll yahgulanaas
mny.ca