Beau Wagner is an artist and woodworker who began carving as a young child. He lived for five years with a teacher from Sztuminus, who every day provided him with Snawayalth and knowledge of our connections to wood and the wilderness. This carving teacher, who cannot be named during the period of mourning, as is Salish custom, understood these relationships as sacred. He told Beau a story about their family travelling to Fraser River to fish and visit with relatives while there. More importantly, in terms of his family history, he told Beau that he too was a relative. Today, there are very few carvers who have been taken under a senior carver’s wings to receive daily teachings about life and our relationships to all living things.
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