Haida carved, painted and oiled maple paddle by Reg Davidson Royal British Columbia Museum
CPN 17462-17463
Launch of the 50 ft. Haida canoe, Lootaas, made by Bill Reid, 1986. U.B.C. Museum of Antropology photo collection Photo: Jackie Gjissen
"You could get along
without anything else on the coast except the canoe. It had to come first
and it had to work. I think a great deal of Northwest coast form comes from
the canoe form."
-Bill Reid, Haida artist and canoe maker, q'adasgu qiigawaay
clan, 1975.