From: sbrock@teal.csn.org (Steve Brock)
Subject: The Black Canoe: Bill Reid and the Spirit of the Haida Gwaii, Photographs by Ulli Stetzer and text by Robert Bringhurst (Art/Native Americans)
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 00:00:58 GMT

THE BLACK CANOE: BILL REID AND THE SPIRIT OF HAIDA GWAII, photo-
graphs by Ulli Steltzer and text by Robert Bringhurst.  University
of Washington Press, P.O. Box 50096, Seattle, Washington  98145-
5096.  Illustrated, index, technical summary, bibliography.  173
pp., $45.00.  0-295-97144-4


                             REVIEW

     Reed, a frail man suffering from Parkinson's disease that
makes movement painful, had a hard time getting to the speaker's
podium at the Canadian Museum of Civilization earlier this month. 
The occasion was the unveiling of the latest museum acquisition:
the mold for his masterwork, "The Spirit of Haida Gwaii."  Haida
Gwaii refers to the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the term means
"islands of the people."
     The patinated black bronze canoe that was hatched from the
cast sits in a pool in front of the Canadian embassy in Washington,
D.C., across the street from the National Gallery of Art. 
Commissioned by the Chancery's architect, Arthur Erickson, and
completed and dedicated last year, the piece was five years in the
making.
     Over twenty feet long, the canoe overflows with mythical Haida
figures.  The thirteen occupants travel in the same direction, but
Raven, Eagle, Grizzly, Mouse Woman (Grizzly's wife), Dogfish Woman,
and others, are not enjoying the journey.  They are all battling
for control, biting and clawing each other, while in the middle of
the fray stands a stolid human chieftain in a Chilkat blanket and
holding a staff on which is written the story of creation.
     In "The Black Canoe," Bringhurst interprets the sculpture's
symbolism: the Haida creation myth and the origins and context of
the part-human figures, the myths of Bear and Raven and Bear told
by tribal elders, and compares them to other sagas involving boats
and floods.  He details Reid's life and artistic development,
compares his work with the Haida tradition, and then brings up
politics.
     Canadian governmental members did not give the piece the
warmest of greetings, as the symbolism evokes a Canada troubled by
continuing disputes over Indian tribal rights.  In 1987, Reid
ceased work on the piece in a protest over logging in Haida Gwaii. 
The Canadian government and the provincial government of British
Columbia were involved in a dispute that ignored Haida tribal
claims.
     At the museum reception, Haida said that "The Spirit of the
Haida Gwaii" made no political or artistic statement.  He only
wanted to thank the mythical creatures that have given his life
meaning.  "I load them into a canoe," he says, "and give them a day
off."
     Bringhurst also describes the production of the sculpture,
complimented by Steltzer's black-and-white photographs which
portray the work as it comes together, and commemorates the
finished piece with several detailed shots.
     "The Black Canoe" has won many awards, such as the Bill Duthie
Bookseller's award and the Vancouver Sun's Reader's Choice award.

Xref: sparky alt.books.reviews:43 alt.native:1180