It is rare for a single work of sculpture to become the subject of a book at any time, much less at the moment of its installation. But Bill Reid's Spirit of Haida Gwaii is no ordinary sculpture. Commissioned for the courtyard of the new Canadian chancery in Washington, DC, it sits directly across the street from the National Gallery and is destined to become one of the major artistic landmarks of the capital and of the North American continent.

Of Haida and white parentage, Canadian artist Bill Reid has spent his life resurrecting the indigenous Northwest Coast tradition in the visual arts. Yet has never lost touch with the European media and techniques in which he was trained. He is equally famed for his totem poles and other large pieces in wood and bronze, and for his work on a minute scale in precious metal.

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is a black bronze canoe, 6 metres long and filled to overflowing with the creatures of Haida mythology. Its passengers include the Raven, the Eagle, the Grizzly and his human wife, the Mouse Woman and the Dogfish Woman, among others. Amidships stands a human being, wrapped in the stylized skin of the mythical Seawolf, holding in his hand a smaller sculpture: a staff on which the story of creation, in Haida terms, is told.

Robert Bringhurst is a poet, typographer and linguist, well known for his award-winning translations of the Haida storytellers Skaay and Ghandl, and for his translations of the early Greek philosopher-poet Parmenides. His manual The Elements of Typographic Style has itself been translated into ten languages and is now one of the world’s most influential texts on typographic design. Among his most recent publications is a pair of essay collections, The Tree of Meaning (GP, 2006) and Everywhere Being is Dancing (GP, 2007). Bringhurst lives on Quadra Island, off the British Columbia coast.

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Ulli Steltzer's photographic studies of Native peoples, Princeton intellectuals, American migrant workers and the Cakchiquel of Guatamala have been shown in major exhibitions. Her books include Indian Artists at Work, Coast of Many Faces, Inuit, Spirit of the Haida Gwaii and Black Canoe.

Ulli Steltzer's profile page