Joanne William’s living room is stacked tall with wooden boxes – dozens of them.
The Tlingit artist from Atlin in northern British Columbia is a knowledge holder for bentwood box making, a traditional artform dating back thousands of years.
“I haven’t had the living room for quite a while now, and I don’t mind it,” she told APTN News, “because I know that it’s our gold.”
Bentwood boxes were traditionally used for cooking, storage, gifts and burial.
Typically made out of cedar, they often display family crests or cultural imagery.
Williams learned the artform from her grandmother, respected Atlin resident, Elizabeth Nyman, as a child.
Williams said bentwood box making was traditionally a male dominated craft, though her grandmother likely learned the art by watching elders in the community.
She said her grandmother felt it was important she learn to make bentwood boxes as she was struggling with health issues at the time and didn’t want the artform to be forgotten.
“I was the one that she focused on for the boxes,” Williams said. “She really wanted us to teach and she wanted us to bring the boxes back to Atlin.”
Don’t be fooled by the box’s simple design
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Bentwood boxes created by Joanne Williams of Atlin. Photo: Vincent Bonnay/APTN News.
Williams said bentwood box making entails a lot of skill and craftmanship.
The process entails carefully sawing a plank of wood in such a way that it can be folded. The wood is then steamed until pliable and bent into a square. The two ends are temporarily screwed together as the wood dries and then doweled.
While bentwood box making is labor intensive work, Williams doesn’t mind. She said she feels its her duty to pass down Tlingit traditions to the next generation.
That duty has led her, and her husband Maurice, to make thousands of bentwood boxes over the years, a passion they share together.
The pair teach the craft at schools and to anyone interested in learning.
“If I teach one person, they teach five people. That’s a lot of people. I’ve got more than 2,000 people that I’ve taught already. So I’m pretty proud of that,” Williams said.
That includes teaching the couple’s grandchildren, just as Williams’ grandmother taught her.
“I think of my grandmother all the time and I am very proud of what I’m doing for her,” she said.
Williams hopes that by teaching bentwood box making she can pass the feeling of achievement on to others.
“Accomplishments are great to have, so I’d really like more people to experience that accomplishment. And making the bentwood box is a big accomplishment.”
