Spirit of Haida Gwaii

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Black Canoe
outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Photo: Bengt Oberger
Artist	Bill Reid
Year	1986 (1986)
Type	Bronze , plaster
Dimensions	3.89 m × 3.48 m × 6.05 m (12 ft 9 in × 11 ft 5 in × 19 ft 10 in)
Location	Canadian Museum of History, Washington, D.C. and Vancouver
Coordinates	38°53′35″N 77°01′06″W / 38.893056°N 77.018333°W / 38.893056; -77.018333

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is a sculpture by

The sculpture was originally created in 1986 as a 1⁄6-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

The original plaster pattern for the sculpture is on display in the main hall of the Canadian Museum of History.[2]^[3]

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.^[4]

An image of the sculpture features prominently on the reverse of the 2004 edition of the

Sculpture

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is intended to represent the

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 6 metres (20 ft) long, not quite 4 metres (13 ft) from the base to the top of the Shaman's staff, and weighs nearly 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb).[5]

References