Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw artist's designs for new ferry revealed

Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw artist Maynard Johnny, Jr., has unveiled his designs for the Salish Heron, the newest ferry in the B.C. Ferries fleet. 

Johnny's design features a colourful heron in flight along the side of the vessel. Though it adheres to the principles of Coast Salish design, Johnny has expanded the colour palette beyond the traditional red and black.

"Before European contact, we had blacks and reds. Black from the fire, reds and sort of deeper reds from berries and salmon eggs and things like that. Today, with modern day technology, we have all kinds of different colours that we can use now," Johnny said on CBC's All Points West. 

"We have these colours available — why not use them?"

The designs are part of an initiative between B.C. Ferries and the First Peoples' Cultural Council that held a call-out for Coast Salish artists to provide designs for the Salish class vessels. Out of 36 entries, Johnny's submission was among those shortlisted.

When Johnny heard they were looking for a designer for the Salish Heron in particular, he was confident. 

"Not to sound too arrogant or too confident, but [I thought], yeah, I got this. This one's mine," he said.

"It was right at a time when I presented a lot of herons in a lot of different ways, especially on paddles. I was at a time in my career when I was doing really well with herons."

Johnny had been focused on designs with the great blue heron because he had been speaking with an elder about the bird's prominence in the Chemainus area of Vancouver Island. 

"One of the simpler stories she used to tell me is that we used to use it as a guide for where the fish were ... because they were always catching them," he said. 

Johnny's artwork will also feature inside the vessel along with a story about the history of Salish mariners. 

"The Salish [people] used the Salish Sea to get from different places to different places. We moved as far down as California and as far up as Haida Gwaii and those territories," he said.

"It wasn't like we were only in Penalukut or Cowichan or Saanich. We were always moving and trading with other nations." 

Three of the vessels — the Salish Orca, Salish Eagle, and Salish Raven — have already entered service. The Salish Heron is set to debut next year on routes in the Southern Gulf Islands.