Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art invites viewers to consider how the act of giving is tied to identity, responsibility, resistance, and renewal as it presents the world premiere of NDN Giver.
Curated by the gallery’s Assistant Curator Amelia Rea in her solo curatorial debut, the exhibition runs from September 27, 2025 to January 25, 2026. Bringing together contemporary potlatch gifts such as prints and mugs alongside archival records of historical potlatches. A member of the Tsiits Git’anee clan from Old Massett, Haida Gwaii, Amilia Rea includes select pieces from her personal collection in NDN Giver as well as featuring works by artists from communities across the coast, including the Haida and Heiltsuk Nations.
“The preparation for NDN Giver has been deeply personal and community-oriented,” says Rea, Bill Reid Gallery Assistant Curator. “It has meant revisiting my own collection of potlatch gifts, reaching out to artists and knowledge holders, and navigating the responsibilities of representation with care. Drawing from a lifetime of experience attending and participating in potlatches along the Northwest Coast, the process has also given me the opportunity to reflect on my own relationship to the potlatch as a lived practice, a political act, and a cultural foundation.”
At the heart of the exhibition is the potlatch as a living system of governance, law, wealth distribution, and cultural affirmation. Once criminalized under Canadian law, the potlatch has endured and evolved, and today offers a powerful alternative worldview based on sharing, sustainability, and relational accountability in the face of global crises.
NDN Giver also speaks to a generational return to Indigenous law and knowledge systems, as well as a resurgence and reclamation of Identity. The exhibition’s title reclaims the derogatory term “Indian giver,” confronting colonial stereotypes imposed on Indigenous generosity and governing structures while reframing them through the potlatch, a system where giving is reciprocal, ceremonial, and deeply significant.
Artworks and gifts on display reflect the diversity of visual expression and ceremonial practice across different Nations, while emphasizing inter-Nation relationships and the ways in which potlatch culture is both distinct and interconnected along the coast. Contemporary pieces such as limited-edition prints, mugs, and multimedia work will be displayed in conversation with older potlatch and archival documents gathered by Rea and her mother, Dr. Lucy Bell. These historical records document events spanning generations, including potlatches held by Rea’s own ancestors, and highlight the protocols, family lineages, and governance structures embedded in the practice.
“Growing up in Haida Gwaii and travelling to potlatches throughout the coast, I developed a deep appreciation for the gifts that are given, not only for their material beauty, but for the teachings they carry,” adds Rea. “Beauty and meaning are embedded in objects given with intention. These pieces mark important moments of history for families, nations, and clans, and show the acceptance of the receiver to carry the responsibility of sharing the events that took place if anyone were to ask.”
NDN Giver is on display at Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, 639 Hornby Street from September 27, 2025 to January 25, 2026 visit billreidgallery.ca for more information on the gallery and its exhibitions.