The Nishga Girl

The next of the open spaces in this part of the Museum houses two artifacts. The large untitled mural in the background once hung in the corporate headquarters of the British American Oil Company, but has long been here. It is a collaboration of two artists, Thor Hansen, who designed it, and Umberto Bruni, who did the painting. 

In the foreground is Nishga Girl, a boat that was built out of the friendship between two men. Eli Gosnell, a First Nations chief on the Pacific coast, was friends with Judo "Jack" Tasaka, who with his family was forcibly interred during the Second World War. Gosnell purchased the family's fishing boat to protect their livelihood until their return. Years later, Tasaka built the Nishga Girl as a tribute and gift to his friend. Now she resides here.

Daphne Odjig is another of the great artists in Canadian history. This 1978 acrylic is a big one, titled The Indian In Transition.

From here the path led out into the Grand Hall, where a series of facades of Pacific Coast homes and a number of totem poles are arranged in this large space. Further down, a series of tables had been set up with board games for kids; this being the period around Christmas, that made sense.

The largest game of chutes and ladders I've ever seen.

More from here tomorrow.