Artist and carver Junior Henderson has always felt a strong connection to land, nature and his Indigenous culture. You can see it in his extraordinary wood carvings that appear in Campbell River and galleries across British Columbia. Working with hand tools and chainsaws to create his art, he is responsible for carrying on this tradition as a proud member of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation.
“Nature has many things to teach us. We often overlook some of the signs and things that nature is providing for us. I truly believe that nature is providing more to us than we even realize.”
That tradition is inseparable from Henderson’s natural surroundings. “I love everything about Campbell River, right? You can do all kinds of activities. We have amazing fishing here, and I’ve been a fisherman as well for 30 years in my life. And the salmon capital of the world is certainly a significant and honest truth to the place where we live.”
Henderson’s artwork makes an important cultural contribution to the Campbell River area, and it also highlights the relationship between Wei Wai Kum communities and the environment. “Land and nature play a significant role in what I do. A lot of the animals that I create are obviously from the land and a lot of the sea creatures that I create are certainly significant to who we are as people on this land […] Nature’s provided a lot of things, not only carving-wise. […] I hear a lot of good stories of my family living off the fat of the land around here and sometimes wish I was born 80 years earlier.”
Carving has a special place in Wei Wai Kum culture, and Henderson wants his work to have a lasting impact on his community here in Campbell River, carrying on the legacy and values shaped in part by his close relationship with the natural world. This is what drives him to keep creating. “When I first got into doing carving, I was thinking it was a career, and soon realized that it was more than that. It was a way of life. And to be able to give back […] was one of the most important things that I learned as being an artist. […] I just try to carry on that legacy the best that I can.”
Visit the Museum at Campbell River to see some of Junior Henderson’s carvings as part of the contemporary exhibits of First Nations cultures.
