Gyetim Gan: faces in the forest

This thesis examines the history and meanings of Gitxsan Gyetim Gan, or face carved in a [living] tree , or tree art. In this work the author tries to answer an number of questions about this art form, such as, What are the purposes of tree art? who is the audience? why has tree art been so invisible to the colonizer? how can tree art be protected? and why were faces a common image carved in trees? To find answers to these questions, the author called upon adaawk (a Gitxsan term for oral history and stories).