In April 2021, friend and fellow malacologist Dr Gene Coan gifted the Museum with the “Interpretation of the Haida Creation Myth” sculpture. The artwork was created in 1990 by Philip E. Burns to evoke the Indigenous Haida legend of the Raven and the First Humans.
According to the Haida culture of the Pacific Northwest, the first humans emerged from a large clam shell opened by a raven. The large redwood sculpture is now one of the features of the “Spirituality” section of the Museum’s new Great Hall of Shells. Read more about the sculpture and the myth here.
