Visitors to Vancouver International Airport's domestic terminal will have plenty of captivating Northwest coast art to appreciate, thanks to the recent acquisition of four red cedar carvings created by internationally acclaimed Haida artist Reg Davidson.

The pieces, which feature Raven as both a cultural hero and prank-playing trickster, recount Haida myths. They are installed in the Link Rotunda area of the domestic terminal, after the security checkpoint near the "C" departure gates.

“Thanks to YVR’s amazing display of artwork, visitors from around the world are able to experience a first-class vision of Aboriginal cultures, histories and traditions,” said Davidson in a press release issued by YVR. “I thank YVR for providing a unique opportunity for visitors to learn more about British Columbia, home to one third of all First Nations in Canada.”

The first piece, a 24-foot carved and painted cedar pole called Raven Stealing the Beaver Lake, tells the story of one facet of Haida creation myth: Raven was brought to the great house of the Beaver people, where he was treated to meals of salmon. Raven waited for his hosts to leave and then rolled up the lake in which the salmon lived and stole it, along with their fish trap and house. The Beavers were unable to catch up with Raven, who escaped and found a large place to unroll the lake. He then taught the Haida people how to fish and build houses. 

The pieces The Blind Halibut Fisherman and Raven with a Broken Beak are inspired by a different myth, in which Raven attempts to play a joke on a blind fisherman. Seated alone in a canoe, the man tended to his fishing line, until Raven dove into the sea in an attempt to steal the bait from the man's halibut hook. A sudden pull of the old man's fishing line caught Raven's beak and quickly broke it off. Unsure of what had come up on his hook, the blind man asked his daughter to put the bill on a stick and raise it up above his house. An ashamed Raven emerged from the sea and tried to reattach the beak to his face, but it slipped and instead became attached to his chin, causing even more shame.

The fourth piece, a bentwood box, was made using red cedar and operculum shells. Traditionally, large bentwood boxes and chests were often used among the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast to store ceremonial regalia and other treasures. These boxes, decorated with relief carvings or paintings, were highly valued and handed down through generations. Davidson's artwork on this box depicts Raven holding the moon, in reference to the creation myth in which Raven steals the moon from a great chief's bentwood box, and gives it to the Haida.

Masset-based Davidson's extensive body of work includes sculptures, masks, drums, silkscreen prints, and gold and silver jewelry. He describes the process of building a totem pole as similar to building a house:

"When I'm doing a totem pole, we can rough it out in two to three weeks, but six months later we're still doing the finishing details," said Davidson in a video for YVR about the pole, Raven Stealing the Beaver Lake. 

"I feel fortunate and able to do these pieces for YVR, because it's putting Haida art on display; it's on the front page of Vancouver, and it's opening doors for other Haida artists," he said.

To hear more from Davidson, watch the video below.