"Spirit of Haida"
Oil on canvas, 26x42"
SOLD

The Native Americans known as the Haida occupied the Queen Charlotte Islands off Canada’s west coast for some seven thousand years. Their remote coastal villages thrived until Europeans drove them to near extinction by the introduction of diseases such as Smallpox, in the mid 19th century.

The Haida worshiped and paid homage to two worlds – the “underworld”, represented by the creatures of the sea, and those of the land and forest, which marked the transition to the “upperworld”. To celebrate both worlds and to establish their own identity, they inhabited the coastal region and embellished their houses with monumental art known as totems.

Although traditionally peaceful people, in the early years as they established a foothold on their hunting grounds, they were known as the “Vikings of the North West” partly because of their huge magnificent ocean-going canoes.

In my painting a spirit bear (white phase of black bear) found only in this region, is silently patrolling the beach of Skidegate, Graham Island in the 1800s. As twilight engulfs the village it symbolizes the ending of an era, but we trust its spirit will live on.