The Spirit of Haida Gwaii

Bill Reid's The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is a bronze-cast sculpture of a canoe containing thirteen mythological Haida figures. Among the creatures and humans represented are the Raven, the trickster of the Northwest Coast, holding the steering oar; under his tail is the Mouse-Woman, the traditional guide to travellers between the human and non-human realms of Haida myth. In the bow is the Grizzly Bear; paddling on the port side is his human wife, the Bear Mother. Between them are their children, the Two Cubs. Behind the Bear Mother is the Beaver, an uncle of the Raven, who hoarded all the fresh water and fish in the world. Behind him is the Dogfish Woman, a shape-changing creature, part human and part shark. Across from the Bear Mother is the Eagle. Beneath him, perched on the gunwale, is the Frog. Arched across the centre of the canoe is the Wolf, with his claws in the Beaver's back and his teeth in the Eagle's wings. Behind the shoulders of the Wolf is a human paddler whom Reid calls "the Ancient Reluctant Conscript". At the centre of this menagerie stands the shaman, known in Haida as "Kilstlaii". His robe and staff, sculpture within sculpture, portray the Seabear, the Raven and the Killer Whale, allusions to other stories central to the Haida view of the world. The canoe contains both Raven and Eagle, the two sides of the Haida social order; women and men, a rich man and a poorer man, animals and human beings. It is an image not only of one culture but of the entire family of living things: not all is peace and contentment in this crowded boat, but whatever their differences, they are paddling together, in one boat, headed in one direction.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States