Heinmot Tookyalakekt Still Larger Than Life

Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

That is the name of the person depicted beyond that corner, better known as "Chief Joseph" of the Nez Perce tribe of the Wallowa, one of the last peoples forced away from their original tribal lands to reservations. Only about 150 of those that did not flee to Canada survived the government moves. This is a sample of the mural spray paint art of Andrew Morrison, an immensely talented young Seattle artist whose family on his father's side are Haida and on his mother's side are Apache. I was passing Wilson Pacific School on Wallingford and 90th when I spied these huge murals that beckoned me to come closer. I walked the entire school grounds and found many enormous murals depicting American Indians of all tribes (see the murals sections on Andrew's website). Each filled a two story high wall exquisitely capturing fine detail using spray paint. To give you some idea of the size, my head would only come up to the top of that earring on the left.