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Topic spans: 1954 - 2002
The Life and Legend of Bill Reid
Bill Reid spent his life confronting public opinion. The artist, who was of Haida and European descent, was largely credited with inspiring a Haida renaissance with his masterful works of art. Some viewed Reid as a curiosity – an artist who navigated his way through two dissimilar worlds. Others viewed him with a more cynical eye and criticized him as a mimic with manufactured ties to the Haida community. CBC Archives explores the esteemed, influential and at times controversial career of Bill Reid.
10 television clips
7 radio clips
The Raven Steals the Light
Broadcast Date: Dec. 26, 1999
In 1984, documentary-maker Barbara Nichol taped her friend Bill Reid narrating his collection of stories The Raven Steals the Light. Nichol tucked them away in her apartment and forgot about them for years. She rediscovered the missing tapes shortly after Reid's death and now they are being aired on CBC Radio's Sunday Showcase. In this excerpt, Reid tells the tale of Owasko and the three killer whales. Teeming with dark humour, the Owasko fable revolves around transformation, magic and the desire to be appreciated.The Raven Steals the Light
• Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst published The Raven Steals the Light in 1984. The book featured 10 folktales accompanied by Reid's intricate illustrations.• "I consider myself one of the most fortunate of men, to have lived at a time when some of the old Haidas and their peers among the Northwest Coast peoples were still alive, and to have had the privilege of knowing them." — Bill Reid, in the introduction to The Raven Steals the Light.
• Robert Bringhurst was a longtime friend of Bill Reid and published The Black Canoe: Bill Reid and the Spirit of Haida Gwaii in 1991. Following Reid's death, Bringhurst actively defended Reid's reputation and legacy. In 2004, he told the Globe & Mail: "No 20th century Canadian did more than Reid to breach the wall of misinformation and mutual ignorance that divides the First Nations of this country from its colonial and immigrant populations."
The Raven Steals the Light
Medium: Radio
Program: Sunday Showcase
Broadcast Date: Dec. 26, 1999
Guest(s):
Speaker: Bill Reid
Duration: 7:58
Last updated:
July 7, 2009
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17 clips in this topic . page
Radio
23:26
Nov. 8, 1991
Folk musician Gordon Lightfoot chats about his career as Canada's most famous troubadour.
Radio
2:04
March 2, 1945
Canadian painter, writer and Group of Seven contemporary dies in Victoria, B.C.
The Raven Steals the Light.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: July 7, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 9, 2010.]