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About The Soul Catcher

Soul Catcher, logo of the UW School of Public HealthOur distinctive logo, the Soul Catcher, a Northwest Indian symbol for physical and spiritual well-being, was designed in 1981 by Marvin Oliver, internationally acclaimed printmaker and contemporary sculptor, associate professor of American Indian Studies, and director of the American Indian Study Center at the UW. Our Soul Catcher, which depicts two bears, one at each end, has become widely identified with the School and symbolizes our mission: to promote better health, prevent illness and injury, and ensure more efficient and cost-effective health care services, through education, research, and service.

Traditionally, soul catchers were used by Northwest Native Americans, who believed that the loss of one's soul or spirit -- if it became separated from the body during a dream, for instance, or was driven out by witchcraft -- causes disease. Soul catchers were usually made of hollowed animal leg bones, carved at each end to resemble the open mouth of the animal, with cedar bark plugs to trap the captured soul. Shamans or healers were hired to track down the missing soul, capture it in a soul catcher, and restore it to the body in order to prevent illness from invading the "empty" body. Small soul catchers were often worn around the neck as medicinal charms; larger soul catchers were sometimes placed in the smokeholes of houses to prevent souls from leaving prematurely.

Oliver’s original artwork for the School’s Soul Catcher is displayed in the Dean's Office along with his original drawings for the large totem, Tetons, on display in the National Wildlife Art Museum in Jackson, Wyoming. Visitors to the Dean’s Office will also find two framed soul catchers, crafted of wood, bone and abalone inlays, and feathers. These treasures were donated by Mrs. Donna Murphy, widow of Sheldon Murphy, former chairman of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

(NOTE: The Soul Catcher is a registered trademark of the University of Washington School of Public Health and cannot be used without expressed permission from the School.)

Links

Celebrating the Soul Catcher (Washington Public Health, Summer 1996)
Marvin Oliver (Stonington Gallery)