Native American Portrait Of Pokanoket Sachem Harry “The Hawk” Quanunon Edmonds
20″ x 24“, Oil on Canvas, 2019
by Charles C. Clear III
Every picture tells a story, as the saying goes. Let me tell you the story behind this Native American Portrait.
On July 29th, 2017, I attended a Native American naming ceremony at a friend’s home in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island. I had never been to a naming ceremony before; I did not know what to expect. At first it seemed like a typical party, with people eating and drinking, talking and laughing. The only difference was that there were several men present dressed in full Native regalia. They looked resplendent in the summer sun! They gathered together by the pool and everyone wanted to take their picture, including me. I took a few group shots.
The Pokanokets
After that I sat by the poolside bar with William Guy, the Sagamore, or Chief, of the Pokanoket Nation, and tribal elders Harry “The Hawk” Edmonds and his brother Lee “Braveheart” Edmonds. I told them that I had never heard of the Pokanokets, and that I thought Rhode Island belonged exclusively to the Narragansetts. They explained that the Pokanokets were the First Nation People who were here when the Pilgrim’s arrived in 1620. Their lands extended from the eastern tip of Cape Cod through southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to the Connecticut River, and north to the Charles River. The heart of their lands was the area known to the tribe as Sowams, which is now divided into the towns of Bristol, Barrington and Warren, Rhode Island. After King Phillip’s War ended in 1676, most of the Pokanokets were either dead, sold into slavery, or absorbed into other tribes. Survivors over 14 years of age were forbidden from ever even uttering the name “Pokanoket”. If they did so they would be killed on the spot.
Naming Ceremony
I found this revelation of local history fascinating and I hung on every word! The three elders were informative and kind, and told very funny stories that generated a lot of laughter. I could have listened to them all day! Eventually, though, it was time for the ceremony to begin. Guests were invited to the backyard. A line formed at a gate. Before you could enter the backyard you had to pass through a cloud of burning sage. One by one each person raised their arms and turned in a circle as Harry “The Hawk” Edmonds fanned them with sage and enveloped them in the sweet smelling smoke. I don’t remember if the sage was a purification ritual or the bestowing of a blessing, but I was grateful to receive either or both.
Once in the backyard, everyone stood in a large circle and held hands.
There was an energy in the circle and you could sense the importance of this sacred event. Prayers were said, offerings were offered, the Pokanoket language was spoken, and two young adults received new names. It was a joyous celebration!
Fast forward to Autumn of 2019:
I was commissioned to paint a portrait of Harry “The Hawk” Edmonds. It was to be a surprise gift. The problem was that proper reference photo’s were not available. Then I remembered the naming ceremony and the pictures that I took two years earlier. They were group shots so the pictures of individual faces were small. But collectively, I managed to use these pictures as a reference when painting the portrait.
This would be the first Native American Portrait that I painted in quite some time. 23 years earlier, in 1996, I painted a large 48″ x 60″ painting of two Narragansett boys wearing their grandfather’s clothes. It was a good painting for its time, but my work has evolved a great deal over the years.
Painting Mr. Edmond’s face was not difficult. It was the regalia that took a great deal of time to paint. It was important to me to capture every tiny detail. This is because when I sat with Mr. Edmond’s by the pool that day, he told me about his regalia; how every feather, every bead, every single thing that he wore had meaning – nothing was purely decorative.
I then painted a simple blue sky behind him because he is, after all, the “Hawk”.
Charles C. Clear III
cc@oceanstateart.com