So, this is THAT English project.
Ok...big breath!

Animals in the picture...from right to left, bottom to top...
1: Masked Wolf Dancer (bottom right)
2: Sea Urchin (bottom left)
3: Raven with Compass Rose (Sun/Light)
4: Salmon (smallest figure)
5: Dogfish shark (bent over sea urchin)
5: Mosquito (toothed "beak", above Raven)
6: Kingfisher ("diving" position, above dogfish's tail)
7: Bear ("biting" foot)
8 : Owl (top center)
9 : Butterfly (top left)

Explanation of figures...
Masked Wolf Dancer
As a child, Bill Reid was forced by his mother to keep his Haida ancestry a secret from society. Reid’s mother Sophie was full Haida, but had married a white man. Her children therefore, in the eyes of white Canadians were “abominations” or “socially unclean.”
The wolf is a symbol of family. Since Reid was forced to wear a “mask”, a masked wolf dancer is certainly appropriate to symbolize this particular point in Reid’s life.

Sea Urchin
Sea Urchins are obviously covered in spines. They don’t like to be bothered by others. As an adolescent, Reid was socially withdrawn, suffering from early stages depression. Though he was very intelligent, he had few friends at Victoria High School and at Victoria College. Throughout his life, Reid was a bipolar maniac, which may have been a factor in the reason why he had so few friends. (Negative impact.)

Raven
The raven is a symbol of intelligence and creation (Raven created the world and discovered mankind according to Haida legend). Though socially withdrawn, young Bill Reid was extremely intelligent and bright. He greatly admired NW coast native art and longed to produce it. As a young man he often visited the local museum to see it’s vast yet under kept collections of native art. The compass rose is near the raven because another Hadia legend states that Raven gave light to humans. This compass rose is meant to represent the light of knowledge that appeared with the raven rising from the crawling, shy wolf dancer.

Salmon

Almost everyone knows of the great salmon migration that takes place every year all up and down the NW coast. The salmon represents the persistence that arose from Reid’s growing knowledge of native art and his growing passion to produce it. A pivotal moment in Reid’s career was when he picked up jewelry making as a hobby, and purchased two gold bracelets with native eagle motifs on them. Only later did he learn that these pieces of fine art had been created by the great Haida artist Charles Edenshaw. Edenshaw became something like Reid’s idol. This was a huge push forward for Reid to begin learning how to create beautiful jewelry.

Dogfish Shark

The dogfish shark also represents persistence, but is also symbolizes strength. A person with the dogfish totem is said to be a born leader. Reid was most certainly a born leader, especially later in his life. He had a commanding yet calm aura about him. He had been a radio announcer for years, and knew how to communicate with people and how to manipulate them. Women were also drawn to him, though he was often unfaithful to his wives.

Bear

The bear is a symbol of learned humility and teaching. Reid was an extremely modest person, seen best in the fact that for a long time, he never signed his jewelry. He had taken in Robert Davidson as an apprentice at one point. Davidson learned much from Reid, but really nothing about the actual native idiom. Reid had taught Davidson such things as how to woo museum curators, gallery dealers, and newspaper critics. He also learned how to survive in the city. Today, Davidson is an extremely talented and successful artist.

Kingfisher

Kingfishers are one of the few bird species that are capable of sustaining hovering flight. This requires not only great physical strength from the bird, but also concentration and patience to learn. Reid was an extremely focused and patient person when it came to the native idiom. Though he was not an extremely patient teacher, he was flexible when it came to native art and design. However, his was often frustrated with his products, calling them “artifakes” because he always felt that his pieces were not truly native and that they served no function as most traditional NW coast art pieces did (such a bowls, spoons, and blankets).

Owl

In many cultures about the globe, the owl represents wisdom and talent. This was the ultimate product of Reid’s hard work, patience and determination. Reid was very knowledgeable with his field, and also know much about Haida culture and history. He spoke at college lectures later in his life, and wrote several essays on the art of NW coastal natives.

Mosquito

Scientists are unsure of what Parkinson’s disease is caused by. It is an illness that affects the central nervous system. It often impairs the victim’s speech and physical movement.
Bill Reid greatly suffered for this horrendous disease in his 60’s and 70’s. He was nearly incapable of audible speech, and was confined to a wheelchair. It also affected his ability to produce art.
The mosquito is a symbol of disease and sickness. In my piece, the mosquito is seen biting the head of the wise owl; sucking away it’s life.

Butterfly

The butterfly is representative and often symbolizes that spirit or ghost of a person. Bill told one of his friends Gary Edenshaw to “haul his body onto a boat, weight it down with a heavy chain and drop it to a sandy West Coast ocean bottom, where it would become food for the crabs.” Then he hoped that his friends would have a party on that beach a few days later and feast on the crabs.


Art (c) SingsWithRavens - Elizabeth Hile 2008