Simon
James
“My
name is “Winadzi” which means the Raider, a name
given to me by my grandfather Chief James Aul Sewid
of the Kwicksuteniuk/Mamalelakala clan of the
Kwakwakawakw people. My nickname is Simon Daniel
James, given to me by my mother, Mabel Sewid and my
father Tanis, Simon Dick. I was born in Alert Bay,
B.C. on February 18, 1969. I moved to Campbell River
at a very young age and lived there for most of my
life. I moved to North Vancouver in September 1996
to attend Vancouver Film School Classical Animation
and 3D Animation courses.
I
started drawing at a young age and was always
fascinated by the artistic styling of my people. I
started carving at the age of 15. My ambition at the
time was to dance my own mask. I soon accomplished
this by dancing my own thunderbird head-dress that a
friend purchased from me and still keeps in his
collection today. After that I soon came to realize
that people liked my artwork and became more
involved in the world of carving.
I
worked hard and learned much from my father and
other carvers such as Wayne Alfred and Beau Dick. I
worked with other artists such as Max Chickite and
Patrick Logan and entered into the district level of
competition in 1994 in Campbell River. I won an
award of excellence and was encouraged to continue
up to the regional and finally the provincial
levels. I won awards of excellence there as well. I
entered another mask the following year and won at
the district level and decided to stop after finding
that the competition for the district was out of
town and I was too busy at the time to continue.
My carving style has been criticized
by my peers and family as being wild and untamed. I
take this criticism well as I consider myself as
being the same. I consider my works as being on the
contemporary side; non-traditional and
non-conforming. I have done traditional pieces for
myself and for traditional events such as
potlatches. I believe strongly in my culture and
practice several culturally beneficial ways for
myself and the next generation to learn from. I am a
dancer, writer and storyteller. Through these, I
hope that the younger generation that follows will
not forget where they come from and continue with
the culture and
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The Wolf Warrior - $1760.00
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