A year-long Lingít arts initiative through Chilkoot Indian Association pairs mentors with apprentices to develop their craft and strengthen traditional and cultural knowledge. Greg Horner is a Haines-based engraver and silver carver, and is one of the mentors passing on techniques and skills.
In 1974, Greg Horner was introduced to traditional Lingít carving as a teenager at Haines High.
“I started carving out Alaska Indian Arts, and they had a program where they were bringing high school kids over to introduce them to carving. And, you know, I just sort of stuck with it,” he said.
Starting in the 1950s, Alaska Indian Arts was a hub of a traditional Lingít arts revitalization effort. The organization was based in the former hospital building in Fort Seward. Native and non-Native artists came together to study and practice traditional carving, painting and Northwest Coast formline design, as well as sell pieces to tourists.
Horner says there were about a half-dozen artists there, and as a teenager he became an apprentice.
“We swept floors, we worked on the building, renovation and then spent time carving, learning how to carve,” he said. “And there was a program where you started out with some pretty basic, kind of rudimentary kind of carving things, learning how to make knives, and what we call two-dimensional carving.”
People would commission totem poles from all over the world, for hundreds of dollars per foot.
He says he started with wood carving, about three years in he moved into silver carving, introduced by George Lewis. Also Ed Kasko, Jenny Lynn Smith, and mastercarver Wayne Price particularly influenced Horner.
“I didn’t know that I was going to stick with it,” Horner said. “But there was a point where I just wanted to get better. I wanted to be good at something. And that seemed like something I could do.”
Though not Native, Horner is passionate about passing on the silver-carving techniques and skills.
“So that’s part of a tradition too. And I feel like, in spite of my identity per se, that once I showed an interest there were people that were willing to share with me. So this is all part and parcel, and hopefully then when, Rob over time, will also have the same opportunity to pass on what he’s learned,” he said.
Rob is Rob Martin. He’s Lingít, and a Haines-based engraver and silver-carver who Horner will be mentoring as part of the year-long traditional Lingít arts apprenticeship program with the Chilkoot Indian Association.
“My apprentice has a great aptitude,” Horner said. “We’ve already worked together, we know each other. So, you know, I’m thankful, you know, for the opportunity to do this really.”
Martin declined to be interviewed for this story. See his work here and here, and read about his showing at the Haines Sheldon Museum here.
Horner says he’s a developed engraver already, so they’ll be focused on expanding his technique and skills in copper, silver and gold.
“We’ll be working on fabricating, which is like forming metal and soldering. It’s a high-heat solder operation, laminating metals, and then some basic stone setting, and then we’ll do some forging.”
Horner says Martin will be doing his own formline designs. He says the apprenticeship will also include the small business side of things, like taxes, negotiating cost of materials, marketing and presenting to the public.
Horner and other mentors and apprentices with the traditional Tlingit arts program will be sharing their process in blog posts. At the end of the program, artworks will be showcased in a public exhibit.
The Chilkoot Indian Association will accept applications for the second cohort, which will begin October 1st. For requirements and an application, see information here.