JANUARY 12, 1920

HAIDA SCULPTOR WILLIAM RONALD “BILL” REID, JR. BORN—MEMBER, ORDER OF CANADA

Born in Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Reid initially was a CBC broadcaster in Toronto before returning to Vancouver in 1951, where he studied Haida art and helped create the sculpture Haida Village for the University of BC (UBC).  An authority on Haida art often credited with the resurgence of Northwest Coast Indian arts, he carved in silver, gold, wood, and argillite.  Major works: Raven and the First Humans (Raven), UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (1980); The Chief of the Undersea World, Vancouver Aquarium (1984); Canoe, Expo 86 (1986); and Spirit of Haida Gwaii (Spirit), Canadian Embassy, Wash., DC (1991).  Awards: Molson Prize (1977) and Lifetime National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, Canadian Native Arts Foundation (1994).  Titles:  Member, Order of BC and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts; Officer, Order of Arts and Letters, France.   Spirit was used by Canada Post (1996, Masterpieces of Canadian art series).  Raven and Spirit are on Canada’s $20.  He died March 13, 1998, in Vancounver, BC.

Source:  Carol Sheehan, Daniel Baird, “Bill Reid,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10/24/2010, updated 12/16/2015. Retrieved 8/18/2019, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/william-ronald-reid
Photo:  Bengt Oberger, (boberger), 6/7/2006.  Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Black Canoe, sculpture by Bill Reid in bronze, outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington.  Permissive Use.