James Madam Art

The house-post project is an employment program run through the village of Witset. It started in 2009, but after a long hyatus, the project resumed in 2019. James tutors students on carving and painting these posts which are located at the entrance to the Kyah Wiget Learning Center.

The posts themselves are from local red cedar trees, and are approximatley 9 feet tall.

Permission was granted for the posts to depict the clan crests. From left on the first post, the top figure is a wolf and below is a mother bear and cub. The bottom figure is a grizzly bear holding a salmon. On the second post, the top figure is a killer whale with a fireweed design on it's body. Below this is the beaver. The next post to the right is the frog. On top is a group of eyes together, for house of many eyes. Below that is the caribou crest, followed by the martin and finally the small frog.

The fourth post is the Big Frog Clan with two frogs on one post. The top frog has his body facing downward and the bottom frog is sitting upright.

As of time of this publication, this project is still underway and the posts are still in progress.