dcMemorials.com << Previous -- Home -- Next >> Full list of all 1,000+ -- Indexed by Subject -- Indexed by Location -- Indexed by Artist Buy THE Definitive Guide to D.C. Sculpture The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C. Haida Gwaii, Spirit of: Statue at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. by Bill Reid The Haida are an Indigenous nation of the west coast of North America. The Haida territories comprise an archipelago called Haida Gwaii, off the coast of British Columbia, and southeast of Alaska. Their main archipelago is commonly known by the European applied name, the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Haida are commonly referred to in Canada as being a First Nations "band" (not "tribe" as in American parlance). Their ancestral language is the Haida language, which has never been adequately classified by linguists because of its uniqueness. Source: Wikipedia Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004550.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index More info about this attraction & others nearby           Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.dcMemorials.com Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004560.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index More info about this attraction & others nearby           Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.dcMemorials.com Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004570.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index More info about this attraction & others nearby           Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004580.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004590.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004600.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004610.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index The Canadian Embassy is proud to be the home of Haida artist Bill Reid's largest and most complex work of sculpture: a bronze-cast sculpture of a canoe containing thirteen mythological Haida figures. Ed. Note: The middle paragraphs from the above plaque are omitted here. See the text which appears below the next image. There the middle paragraphs are parsed so the description of each figure is immediately below that figure's picture. 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. Whereever their journey takes them, let us wish them luck. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004620.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Among the creatures and humans represented are the Raven, the trickster of the Northwest Coast, Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004630.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index holding the steering oar; under his tail is the Mouse Woman, the traditional guide to travellers between the human and non-humanrealms of Haida myth. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004640.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index In the bow is the Grizzly Bear; Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004650.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index paddling on the port side is [Bear's] human wife, the Bear Mother. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004660.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Between [Bear & Bear Woman] are their children, the Two Cubs. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004670.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004680.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Behind the Bear Mother is the Beaver, an uncle of the Raven, who hoardedall the fresh water and fish in the world. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004690.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004700.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004710.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Behind [Beaver] is the Dogfish Woman, a shape-changing creature, part human and part shark. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004720.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004730.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Across from the Bear Mother is the Eagle. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004740.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Beneath Eagle, perched on the gunwale is the Frog Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004750.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004760.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004770.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Arched across the centre of the canoe is the Wolf, withhis claws in the Beaver's back and his teeth in the Eagle's wings. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004780.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004790.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Behind the shoulders of the Wolf is a human paddler whom Reid calls "the Ancient ReluctantConscript". Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004800.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index Behind the At the centre of this menagerie stands the shaman, known in Haida as "Kilstlaai". 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. Click here to purchase photos Location index - Home - 00355_0000004810.jpg recorded 2006-7 - Top - Full index The Spirit of Haida Gwaii Artist Bill Reid Gift of Nabisco Brands Toronto, Canada Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.dcMemorials.com

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