Into the Deep

The story that inspired this print:

Long ago humans lived simply, with families living in caves and wherever they could find shelter. Life was hard, they did their best. One day a strange human arrived, with black and white markings. He told them he was from the blackfish people, and they had seen the humans and wanted to share some of their teachings with them. So one man went with the blackfish to learn their ways.

When they got to the water they both transformed into blackfish (killer whales) and swam down to the village of the Blackfish people at the bottom of the ocean. When the human arrived he saw how they lived. There were large longhouses with totem poles out front. The village took care of itself, everyone shared the jobs of hunting, raising children, harvesting and defending the village. Certain families carried the responsibility of managing things and making difficult decisions.

The human saw all this and more and thanked the Blackfish for sharing these teachings with him. He swam back to the shore and transformed back into a man. He shared what he had seen and the people began to live in this way, and thrived like they never had before. They were able to develop art, stories, ceremonies, go trade and travel like never before. So we humans must remember to give thanks to the blackfish people for teaching us how to live socially in a good way.

The print shows the human in killer whale form at the top, and the real killer whale below descending to the Blackfish village.