Bill Helin is a Canadian artist, illustrator, jewelry designer engraver, writer, tourism and branding expert, drumming specialist, singing and verbal storyteller; and logo and gift product designer in the Northwest Coast style and a member of the

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only r ...

First Nation of northwestern

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, ...

. His ancestry is from the Gits'iis tribe in the village of

Lax Kw'alaams Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

, B.C. His father was Arthur Helin-(pronounced Hel-een) (Haymaas), was a commercial fisherman and basketball star, was also in Chief lineage in the Gitlan tribe of the Tsimshian Nation. Some of Bill's accomplishments include designing three patches worn by astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle ''Columbia'' 1996, and then two for Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk, on his second mission to the International Space Station in 2011. Plus a number of other important projects for the Can. Space Agency. 5 Jewelry items were flown on the two missions along with bill's patch designs. Bill and his Mother, blanket maker, Carole Helin,( Listed in the book; Robes of Power), created a traditional hand made button blanket for the Can. Spce Agncy, in the style of Robert Thirsk's Uniform patch design. In 1994 Bill carved a 40' dugout canoe called the Ravensong and the same year worked on the world's tallest (192' 3" tall)

totem pole Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually ...

known as the Spirit of Lekwammen, carved for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. In 2013 Bill carved two 15' red cedar totem poles for the Canadian International School of Hong Kong, in a 21/2 month time period, as their first artist in residence projects, teaching over 1800 students of the carving process and many other topics of First Nations art and culture. Bill and his daughter Candice Helin, and his granddaughter Trinity are actively teaching stories through drum circles and drum dance presentations. Bill teaches drumming lifestyles and wellness programs throughout schools and corporate venues in B.C. He is a cousin to the author Calvin Helin, whose 2006 book, ''Dances with Dependency,'' he illustrated, along with many other images inserted into two other books by Calvin Helin. Bill was contracted b
Strong Nations Publishers
in Nanaimo to illustrate over 110 books since 2014. All these books and other learning toys and products are used in many schools and homes across Canada.

Sources

* Helin, Calvin (2006) ''Dances with Dependency: Indigenous Success through Self-Reliance.'' Vancouver: Orca Spirit Publishing and Communications. *Strong Nations Publishers, Nanaimo B.C. Tlingit First Nations book series: 8 bks written and illustrated by Bill Helin: Plus 106 more illustrated teaching books in the Strong Readers Series, widely used in most education systems in Canada. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Tsimshian woodcarvers {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub