A sculpture of three Haida watchmen by 7idansuu, Jim Hart, now stands on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.
Called The 3 Watchmen, the six-metre bronze shows three Haida guardians sitting back-to-back so they look out in all directions. Each wears a tall hat with four rings, symbolizing good fortune.
The Hart sculpture was donated to the National Battlefields Commission by philanthropist Michael Audain and unveiled at the Plains of Abraham on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“The watchmen not only look out for danger in this world but in the spirit world as well, day or night, summer or winter, sun or rain,” said Hart, in a statement.
“They are there for us.”
Hart expressed thanks to Audain and the National Battlefields Commission “for bringing West to East and to the Wendat whose ancestral territory this is.”
Nearby, a second sculpture by Wendat artist Ludovic Boney called Remembering Through Beads was also unveiled Sept. 30. It represents the wampum beads traditionally used by the Wendat Nation to seal diplomatic alliances.
The Plains of Abraham was the site of a 1759 battle between French troops and warriors with seven allied Indigenous nations against an invading British force that led to the French to surrender their North American sovereignty claims to Britain in 1793.