Profile
Victor & Edith Newman
M
aster carver Victor Newman and his wife, textile artist and clothing designer, Edith Newman, have raised three children, Marion, Carey and Ellen. Victor’s great grandfather is legendary Kwakwaka’wakw artist Charlie James and his aunt is carver Ellen Neel so it is no surprise that Victor and Edith’s son, Carey Newman, has become a multi-disciplinary Indigenous artist and master carver who created “The Witness Blanket,” made with over 800 items collected from residential school survivors and the former residential school buildings. It was Victor, a residential school survivor, who inspired Carey to create the powerful monument, one that involved the entire Newman family. Now grandparents, Victor and Edith reflect on the importance of spending time together, conversation, inclusion, leading by example and the value of community involvement.
Q. What are your traditional names? What do they mean?
Victor: Hemosaka, which means the making of a chief. Edith: Yakudlas’amega, which means she who gives everything.
Q. How many children do you have? What are their names?
Three. Marion, Carey and Ellen. Their traditional names are Nege’ga (she is a mountain of wealth), Hayalthkingeme (the face of a chief) and Kugwi’sila’ogwa (chief ’s seat, where you place your wealth).
6 Grand
Q. How many grandchildren do you have? What are their names and ages? Where do they live? We have one granddaughter. Adelyn is 10 and she lives in Victoria.
Q. What do you love most about being a grandparent? Least?
Victor: I had to wait a while for it to happen. For a while I was the oldest new grandfather I knew. It was amazing when I finally got to hold my grandchild after she was born. Edith: I love interacting with Adelyn, watching her play with her new puppy, sewing, reading, making doll clothes, everything. She has a very broad vocabulary and chatting with her is an education. I grew up in a family with both parents and four siblings in a neighbourhood where I was within walking distance of my maternal grandparents and three families of aunts, uncles and cousins. We were in each other’s homes almost daily. I wish that we lived much closer. So to answer the second part of this question, the physical distance between us is what I love the least.
grandmag.ca
