A circular artwork featuring intricate designs inspired by indigenous art. The central composition showcases a stylized figure with animal motifs, prominently featuring bold black, red, and green colors against a cream background. The outer edge is bordered in dark, enhancing the overall contrast. The artist's signature and a title are included at the bottom.

Tom D. Hunt, Kwagulth Sisiutl Hunter, 1993. Screenprint on paper, edition A.P. 6/20.  SFU Art Collection. Gift of Gwynne Roseborough MEd., 2024.

Rachel Topham Photography
A circular artwork featuring intricate designs inspired by indigenous art. The central composition showcases a stylized figure with animal motifs, prominently featuring bold black, red, and green colors against a cream background. The outer edge is bordered in dark, enhancing the overall contrast. The artist's signature and a title are included at the bottom.

Title

Kwagulth Sisiutl Hunter

Artist

Tom D. Hunt

Year

1993

Collection

SFU Art Collection

Year Acquired

2024

From his monumental sculptures, intricately painted drums, and screenprints, Tom Hunt’s versatility as an artist demonstrates his innovative approach to traditional Kwakwaka’wakw art forms and iconography. Kwagulth Sisiutl Hunter references the figure of Sisiutl, a potent supernatural entity within Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) cosmology, often depicted as a two-headed sea serpent with a humanoid face at its centre. Serving as a crucial intermediary between the natural and supernatural realms, Sisiutl is revered as an ally of shamans, capable of advocating for humans in its guardianship by negotiating with other supernatural beings. Variations of this creature appear across Indigenous cultures throughout the Pacific Northwest, such as the Tlingit’s Grubworm and Nuu-chah-nulth’s (Nootka’s ) Mountain Snake. Central to themes of warrior prowess and spiritual power, Sisiutl symbolizes strength, invulnerability, and revival. The central head in the image embodies the cannibal spirit Baxbakualanuxsiwae, pivotal in Kwakwaka’wakw winter dances. Each head features plume-like horns regularly associated with supernatural entities. Depictions of Sisiutl adorn warrior’s and hunter’s headbands, bows, drums, and canoes, highlighting its significant role in Kwakwaka’wakw art and culture.

Artists

Tom D. Hunt (Watawidl) was born in Victoria in 1964 and is a prominent carver and painter of the Kwakwaka’wakw/ Kwagiulth Nation, with ancestral ties to ‘Nakwaxd’xw (Blunden Harbour) and Tsaxis (Fort Rupert). He is the son of Hereditary Chief George Hunt and Mary Hunt and will succeed his father as a Hereditary Chief. Hunt began his apprenticeship in Kwakwaka’wakw art at age twelve under his father, later collaborating with renowned carvers such as his brother George Hunt Jr., his uncle Calvin Hunt, and his maternal grandfather Sam Henderson, who imparted to him the artistic style of the ‘Nakwaxda’xw Nation. Hunt’s artistic contributions extend globally, with works in collections worldwide. He continues to create from his home in Tsaxis, where he resides with his wife and daughter, perpetuating and enriching the cultural legacy of the Kwakwaka’wakw people through this art.