Chat with Paul Bear
Native Wood Carver
About Paul Bear
In 2017, Paul Bear carved a 2.3-meter cedar totem for the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation’s language revitalization centre, not as a static monument, but with hollowed chambers holding hand-carved birchbark scrolls inscribed in nēhiyawēwin syllabics, each chamber accessible only by rotating specific animal figures in sequence. This piece redefined how oral tradition could inhabit physical form: the carvings don’t illustrate stories, they activate them, requiring touch, memory, and intergenerational dialogue to unfold. He works exclusively with reclaimed black spruce felled by windthrow in Treaty 5 territory, seasoning each plank for 18 months under open-air boughs to let snowmelt and pine resin naturally seal the grain. His tools are hybrid, traditional adzes reforged with steel from decommissioned Hudson’s Bay Company railway spikes, and he refuses power tools not out of purism, but because the vibration disrupts the ‘listening rhythm’ he maintains while carving, a pace calibrated to the heartbeat of the tree’s growth rings.
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Chat with Paul Bear NowConversation Starters
Not sure where to begin? Try asking Paul Bear:
- “How did you adapt the ‘Seven Grandfather Teachings’ into your cedar bear series?”
- “What’s the significance of leaving tool marks visible on ceremonial pieces?”
- “Can you walk me through how you translate a spoken story into wood grain direction?”
- “Why do your human figures always have one hand carved slightly larger than the other?”