David Neel was an infant when his father, a traditional Kwakiutl artist, returned to the ancestors, triggering a series of events that would separate David from his homeland and its rich cultural traditions for twenty-five years. Drawing on memories, legends, and his own art and portrait photography, David Neel recounts his struggle to reconnect with his culture after decades of separation and a childhood marred by trauma and abuse. He returned to the Pacific Coast in 1987, where he apprenticed with master carvers from his father's village.

The art of his ancestors and the teachings of the people he met helped make up for the lost years and fuelled his creativity. His career as a multimedia artist also gave him the opportunity to meet and photograph leading artists, knowledgeable elders, and prominent people from around the world. The Way Home is an uplifting tale that affirms the healing power of returning home. It is also a testament to the strength of the human spirit to overcome great obstacles, and to the power and endurance of Indigenous culture and art.

Crafted from memories, legends, and art, this powerful memoir tells the uplifting story of an Indigenous man's struggle to reconnect with his culture and walk in the footsteps of his father and the generations of Kwakwa ka 'wakw artists that came before him.

About the Author

David A. Neel, carver, jeweller, painter, printmaker, writer, and photographer, comes from a family of traditional Kwakwa ka 'wakw artists, including Dave Neel Sr., Ellen Neel, Mungo Martin, and Charlie James. In addition to apprenticing with carvers in Alert Bay, he received training in writing and photography from the University of Kansas and Mount Royal College in Alberta. He is the author of Our Chiefs and Elders: Words and Photographs of Native Leaders (1992) and The Great Canoes: Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition (1995). He is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Kwakwa ka 'wakw traditional art and culture.

Reviews
The Way Home is filled with portrait photography that conveys stories that cannot be told by words alone. In this image-filled memoir we are also invited into Neel's creative journey through his descriptions and photos of his own carved masks and his precious metal jewelry. -- Latash-Maurice Nahanee * BCBookLook *

"A spellbinding memoir with universal reach ... beautifully told and illustrated ... Neel's memoir is written with the same calm mastery he brings to all his art. This is a wise, eloquent, and deeply moving book." - 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction jury (Helen Knott, Sandra Martin, and Ronald Wright)

-- Helen Knott, Sandra Martin, and Ronald Wright * Hillary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction jury *


Awards
Short-listed for Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, The Writers' Trust of Canada 2020 (Canada).



Book Information
ISBN 9780774890410
Author David A. Neel
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press