Author Description

This title is complimentary to Hancock House's first Mildred Valley Thornton book released in 2000, Buffalo People: Portraits of a Vanishing Nation. Potlatch People concentrates on the lives and legends of the Coastal Indian Tribes. Mildred Valley Thornton had an abiding passion which she pursued with almost missionary fervor throughout her life-the preservation of Canada's Native culture. For over fifty years she dedicated herself to that purpose through the medium of her paintings, writings and lectures. During the course of her career, Mildred not only painted the portraits of many prominent and historical Native Canadians, but she assembled an accompanying catalogue of anecdotes, folklore and legends, which today provide a unique chronicle of a vanished age. This publication is a collection of both Thornton's colorful portraits and the fascinating story behind each one.