The ''Spirit of Haida Gwaii'' is a sculpture by

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

artist

Bill Reid William Ronald Reid Jr. (12 January 1920 – 13 March 1998) ( Haida) was a Canadian artist whose works include jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and paintings. Producing over one thousand original works during his fifty-year career, Reid is ...

(1920–1998). There are two versions of it: the black canoe and the jade canoe. The black canoe features on

Canadian $20 bill The Canadian $20 note is one of the most common banknotes of the Canadian dollar; it is the primary banknote dispensed from Canadian automatic teller machines (ATMs). The newest version, the Frontier Series polymer note, was released to the gen ...

s of the

Canadian Journey Canadian Journey is the sixth series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar designed and circulated by the Bank of Canada. It succeeded the 1986 Birds of Canada banknote series. The first banknote of the Canadian Journey series issued into circul ...

series issued between 2004 and 2012.

Background

RK 0908 9604 Spirit of Haida Gwaii the Jade Canoe

The sculpture was originally created in 1986 as a -scale clay model, enlarged in 1988, to full-size clay. In 1991, the model was cast in bronze. This first bronze casting was entitled ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Black Canoe'' and is now displayed outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The second bronze casting, entitled ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Jade Canoe'', was first displayed at the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...

in 1994. Finally, in 1996, the ''Jade Canoe'' (as it is generally called) was moved to the International Terminal at

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busiest ...

. The original plaster pattern for the sculpture is on display in the main hall of the Canadian Museum of History. Spirit of Haida Gwaii, plaster original

On 30 April 1996 Canada Post issued ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, 1986–1991, Bill Reid'' in the Masterpieces of Canadian art series. The stamp was designed by Pierre-Yves Pelletier based on a sculpture ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii'' (1991) by William Ronald Reid in the Canadian Embassy, Washington, United States. The 90¢ stamps are perforated 12.5 mm × 13 mm and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited. An image of the sculpture features prominently on the reverse of the 2004 edition of the

Canadian twenty-dollar bill The Canadian $20 note is one of the most common banknotes of the Canadian dollar; it is the primary banknote dispensed from Canadian automatic teller machines (ATMs). The newest version, the Frontier Series polymer note, was released to the gen ...

. These bills are no longer issued; a new design entered use in 2012.

Sculpture

Spirit of Haida Gwaii, The Jade Canoe, port side

''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii'' is intended to represent the Aboriginal heritage of

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecat ...

, formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands. In green-coloured bronze on the Vancouver version and black-coloured on the Washington version, it shows a traditional Haida cedar

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...

which totals six metres in length. The canoe carries the following passengers:

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

, the traditional

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

Haida mythology The Haida are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their national territories lie along the west coast of Canada and include parts of south east Alaska. Haida mythology is an indigenous religion that can ...

, holding the steering oar;

Mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

Woman, crouched under Raven's tail;

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

, sitting at the bow and staring toward Raven; Bear Mother, Grizzly's human wife; their cubs, Good Bear (ears pointed forward) and Bad Bear (ears pointed back);

Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

, Raven's uncle; Dogfish Woman;

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

;

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

;

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

, claws imbedded in Beaver's back and teeth in Eagle's wing; a small human paddler in Haida garb known as the Ancient Reluctant Conscript; and, at the sculpture's focal point, the human

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

(or in

), who wears the Haida cloak and woven spruce root hat and holds a tall staff carved with images of Seabear, Raven, and

Killer Whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pa ...

. Consistent with Haida tradition, the significance of the passengers is highly symbolic. The variety and interdependence of the canoe's occupants represents the natural environment on which the ancient Haida relied for their very survival: the passengers are diverse, and not always in harmony, yet they must depend on one another to live. The fact that the cunning trickster, Raven, holds the steering oar is likely symbolic of nature's unpredictability. The sculpture is long, not quite from the base to the top of the Shaman's staff, and weighs nearly .

References

External links

Vancouver International Airport: ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii'' pageForeign Affairs Canada: ''The Spirit of Haida Gwaii'' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit of Haida Gwaii 1986 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Canada Bronze sculptures in Washington, D.C. First Nations culture Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C. Sculptures of mythology Sculptures of women in Washington, D.C. Statues in Canada Vancouver International Airport Haida Gwaii