Coast Salish Welcome Figures

These indigenous figures were carved out of large cedar trunks as a welcome for the world’s athletes to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, in 2010.

The figures are four meters tall and are attached to a two meter pedestal. This is the explanation of their symbolism by one of the carvers George Hameon. “Welcome figures were traditionally erected at the entrance of a Salish community, signaling to a visiting people, with their outstretched arms free of weapons, that they were welcome to enter as guests”.

Post-Olympics, the figures were moved to the lobby of the BC Hydro building in downtown Vancouver. They stand on either side of the entranceway, welcoming all who enter.