Help install Yaadachóon on the waterfront

Help us install this amazing sculpture, "Yaadachóon", by artist Robert K Mills  and fabricator Brian Crapo, on the beach side of the seawalk near the mouth to Gold Creek in Juneau Alaska. This is near the location of Aak'w Kwan, the traditional village of the indigenous Tlingit people, and near where, historically, canoes would be pulled ashore everyday. 

Your funds help pay for the site work, cement,  and supplies needed to position the canoe, for welding the paddles and supports into place, for lighting, and for signage so that everyone who passes by can read and understand the significance of this beautiful canoe.
 
Robert Mills created this amazing 20 foot aluminum canoe as part of Juneau ArtWorks, art in response to Covid.

 

In his words:

Capable of enduring the most treacherous waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean to ensure our survival, canoes built and designed by Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast have been the mode of transportation for thousands of years. Creating these magnificent canoes has allowed us to participate in trade, attend sacred ceremonies, as well as harvest foods from up and down the Northwest Coast. In order to be effective, working together is required. These canoes are incredibly utilitarian, dynamic, and loaded with aesthetic appeal.

 

This canoe sculpture allows for an opportunity to share all previously mentioned, but perhaps more importantly, a vignette of the binary government structure of the Tlingit, the Ch’aak’ (Eagle) and Yeil (Raven). Albeit not perfect, there were conflicts, and shortcomings, but the requirement to always engage, u

phold, and take great care of your opposites with the utmost respect; ensuring that we were always progressing for the collective good of humanity.

 

During this critical time in society, and this dual political climate, it allows an opportunity for every viewer of the sculpture to appreciate these canoes, Tlingit culture, more importantly, highlighting an example of working in unison, no matter which side you are on, for humanity.

 

This site is visible both from Gastineau Channel, to ships sailing into port, and from the road as residents of Juneau and Douglas drive in and out. The canoe will be lit, making it an inspiring beacon on the waterfront in Alaska's capital city.

 

Please help! Be a part of bringing this c

anoe, and its message to this site, a reminder of the traditional home of the Tlingit people and of the values that serve past and present, carrying us into the future.

 

The installation will start in the fall and be completed, as funds become available, in the spring.
There is some urgency, as it is currently located in the lobby of Centennial Hall in Juneau, and needs to be moved by November.

Please help!

Thank you! Gunalchéesh!