The Canadian national team hung on for a stressful 3-2 victory in overtime. Sidney Crosby provided the heroic score on Sunday, seven minutes and 40 seconds into the extra period. The hockey win also gave Canada’s 14th gold of the Vancouver Games, breaking the record for most gold medals at a Winter Olympics!

As an avid hockey fan, Andy Everson could not represent Canada’s national sport with only one animal. Instead he chose three: a ram for the big hitters, a wolf for the shooters and a bear for the goalie.

Andy included “Ram” in his “Sprits of Snow & Ice Collection” as it there are few more powerful images than that of two male bighorn sheep, or rams, squaring off in combat amidst towering mountain ranges. Of course, the reason for this display of athletic strength and prowess is ultimately to show dominance and win over their choice of female. Lining up and lowering their heads, rams run straight toward their opponents to smash horns with one another. To the victor go the spoils, they say.

Nothing emits a louder “whoa” while watching hockey than seeing an opponent getting bowled over after receiving a devastating body check. Distracted with the puck, the receiver of the blow is caught unawares, unknowingly lined up for the hit. With the grace of a freight train, the checker plows into his opponent and literally knocks him away from the puck. Victor… spoils….

Andy Everson is an Ambassador for Aboriginal Tourism BC and Kla-how-ya Village at the Pan Pacific. He is a Northwest Coast visual artist and a performer with Le-La-La Dancers for the Cultural Olympiad. His “Raven” art print was recently presented to Alex Bilodeau for winning a gold medal in freestyle skiing for Canada.

As a special request for Jon Montgomery, gold medalist in Skeleton for Canada, Andy will complete his “Seal” print as a commemorative piece. His “Bear” print, a silhouette of a hockey goalie was also gifted to CNN President. “Raven” and “Bear” are part of the “Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection” released in January of 2010 and printed by Andy Everson at Copper Canoe, his studio in Comox, BC.

It is fitting that the final game is hockey, Andy’s favourite sport, with Canada taking home the gold for its national sport and for winning the gold record for Winter Games 2010.

“Ram” by Andy Everson, a commemorative piece for the Canada hockey gold win

For more information and to see the art prints, please contact:
Liza Lee at 778.238.2024 or email her at Liza@Lizajlee.com.

Andy was also interviewed in the Vancouver Sun on February 26, 2010

Dancer shares the story of his road home

Andy Everson was forced to grow up off the reserve after his mother married a non-aboriginal – by Kim Pemberton

Native artist and dancer Andy Everson is deeply involved with his culture, but his path wasn’t an easy one because of a past law in Canada that stigmatized aboriginal women who married non-aboriginal men.

Everson, who is from the Comox Band, at one time wasn’t even allowed to live on reserve after his mother married a Norwegian man.

By doing so, she and her children lost their Indian status. According to Canadian federal law at the time, if an aboriginal man married a non-aboriginal woman she gained Indian status, but if the opposite happened the woman lost her status. After the Indian Act was amended in 1985, Everson’s mother was able to regain her status, as were her children.

“It defines who I am now,” said Everson, who gives no hint of malice about the injustice. Though his family was “essentially kicked off” the reserve land, he still felt a part of the community.

Most of his childhood was spent in Courtney, but he would still attend potlatches growing up. Everson learned the values and ways of his people from his grandmother, who as a child lived in a traditional Big House and carried on her people’s ancient traditions right up until her death at 99 years of age.

“When I was young our culture wasn’t thriving as much as it is now but it was always around,” said Everson, 37. “I started to get really involved as a teenager when I started to go to more potlatches and spend a lot of time with my grandmother. I’m really glad I did now. There were a lot of things to learn and she taught me my responsibilities and roles as a member of my community.”

Everson, who is part of the famous Hunt family, was able to spend more time with his grandmother after his mother regained her Indian status and they were allowed to move onto the reserve.

He went on to university and got his master’s degree in anthropology, which he saw as a “good fit” because of his aboriginal background. He wrote his thesis about contemporary K’omox Identity.

Since 1993 he has been a dancer with the LeLaLa Dancers, a traditional dance company from northern Vancouver Island. He is also an artist, producing two dimensional prints in a style that mixes Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw, from Comox north.

The dance troupe has been performing regularly throughout the Winter 2010 Olympics at the Pan Pacific Hotel, which has been the site of many aboriginal cultural performances and demonstrations organized by the Aboriginal Tourism Association of B.C.

Everson’s artwork is on display at the Aboriginal Artisan Village and Business Showcase, situated in the lobby of the Vancouver Community College, one block north of the Aboriginal Pavilion. The artist said he has been happy to see the aboriginal culture gain acceptance and understanding at the Games.

“For the most part, the involvement of aboriginal people was an eye opener to a lot of the world. That we exist and the indigenous people of Canada are quite diverse. You could see that at the opening ceremony. There was a wide variety of regalia and dance styles. The legacy is we’re still here,” he said.

kpemberton@vancouversun.com © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Dancer and artist Andy Everson performs beside the Raven’s Song canoe inside the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, PNG, Vancouver Sun

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© 2010 ArtConverge (ISSN 1918-9273‏)

Andy Everson gifts “Bear” print, a silhouette of a goalie with an Aboriginal background bear design to CNN President. He has been invited by CNN to interview nightly for a different art print from his “Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection” to feature the various Olympics winter sports at Canvas Lounge, located at 99 Powell Street.

Canvas Lounge and JetSet Crew have joined forces to create the ultimate victory parties and media interviews for celebrities and Olympic athletes during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

APTN and Global TV also interviewed Andy at the Pan Pacific Aboriginal Pavillion for his “Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection” as it captures the essence of 2010 Winter Games for both sports and culture.

Andy Everson is the Ambassador for Aboriginal Tourism BC and Pan Pacific Aboriginal Pavillion. His “Raven” art print was presented to Alex Bilodeau for winning a gold medal for Canada at the Pan Pacific. CanSkate also purchased a number of his skating prints for their athletes, including Special Olympics.

About “Bear”
At first glance, a bear appears to be too large to be fast and ferocious. However, when threatened, bears will not hesitate to show their other, more lethal, personality. Covered head to toe in protective gear, a hockey goalie lumbers out of the dressing room encumbered by huge pads and gloves. While they may not be able to cover a great deal of ice quickly, the net is an area that is rigourously defended. A goalie shows skill by falling to the ice or swatting the puck away with a poke check. Under attack the play is often ended with the raising of an arm and a flash of leather.

About “Raven”
In Northwest Coast mythology, the raven is often labelled the “trickster.” The raven is often portrayed as mischievous and always getting into trouble. Freestyle skiers are the tricksters of the slopes. They approach moguls and jumps with an insatiable quest for doing the impossible. Daffys, Cossacks, Backscratchers, and Iron Crosses are common in their parlance. They fly through the air, contorting their bodies to turn in ways that look unnatural. Their knees absorb the pounding of the moguls as they make their way downhill. (See Andy Everson’s “Raven” print.)

Andy is performing tonight at the Roundhouse for The Talking Stick opening gala with his Le La La Dancers troupe. Visit www.fullcircleperformance.ca for more information.

Andy Everson “Bear” print gifted to CNN President

Andy Everson Bio
Andy Everson was born in Comox, BC in 1972 and named Nagedzi after his grandfather, the late Chief Andy Frank. Influenced heavily by his grandmother, he has always been driven to uphold the traditions of both the K’omoks and Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations. In this regard, Andy has pursued avenues where he can sing traditional songs and perform ceremonial dances at potlatches and in a number of different dance groups, most notably the Le-La-La Dancers, the Gwa’wina Dancers and the K’umugwe Dancers.

His visual art style bears resemblance to Roy Henry Vickers, (born June, 1946, in Laxgalts’ap (now known as Greenville), British Columbia), also a Canadian First Nations artist. His work has been the official gift of the Province of British Columbia to visiting foreign leaders several times. In 1987 the original of his painting “A Meeting of Chiefs” was the official gift to Queen Elizabeth II. And in 1993 artist’s proofs of his print The Homecoming were the Province’s gift to Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin.

The “Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection” consists of 10 limited edition prints focused exclusively on winter sport. They each feature silhouettes of winter athletes in front of a traditional First Nations design. Andy has chosen to pay homage to the winter sports that take place in his hometown and over much of British Columbia.

While each print matches every other print in the series, all are unique. Andy chose a different animal to represent different sports: an eagle for snowboarding, a hummingbird for figure skating and an otter for curling, and so on. As an avid hockey fan, Andy could not represent Canada’s national sport with only one animal. Instead he chose three: a ram for the big hitters, a wolf for the shooters and a bear for the goalie.

The signed and numbered prints are available individually to mix and match or as part of a complete box set. The box sets contain all of the 10 prints with matching numbers. Each archival quality box will be signed and numbered, as well. Only 50 box sets will be made available, bearing the numbers 1 through 50.

Buy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 to mix, match and collect – $125 each.
Buy an entire set of 10 for $1000.

For more information and to see the art prints, please contact:
Liza Lee at 778.238.2024 or email her at Liza@Lizajlee.com.

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© 2010 ArtConverge (ISSN 1918-9273‏)