This 40-foot serpent sculpture in Vancouver is a reclamation of Squamish and Japanese art

Santana Dreaver · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 08, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

James Nexw'Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry, a Squamish artist, and Lauren Brevner of Japanese and Trinidadian heritage, person been collaborating connected creation pieces for a decade.

The brace are partners successful beingness and welcomed their girl into the satellite 2 years ago. They thought of her as they pitched their latest nationalist creation project: a 40-foot sculpture of a two-headed snake located astatine the intersection of Granville Street and West Broadway, successful Vancouver's Fairview neighbourhood. 

The double-headed serpent, Sínulhḵay, is a supernatural being from a Squamish Nation story, and the sculpture was made utilizing Japanese materials.

The piece, they say, volition let their girl to spot her cultures represented successful the mainstream. 

"When we were talking astir what was important to us, it ever came backmost to her, however we privation her to locomotion successful her powerfulness and beryllium represented successful this world," Brevener said.

WATCH | 40-foot sculpture astatine aboriginal SkyTrain presumption incorporates Coast Salish, Japanese art: 

"We wanted her to cognize who she is, truthful we created a assemblage of enactment astir that."

The task was selected done a competitory process. Harry and Brevner curated the portion based connected the Squamish communicative and a squad of designers and fabricators at Area 58 Innovation Inc. successful Langley built it.

A warrior and a snake

The serpent's 2 heads represent the bully and the atrocious successful life.

In the story, a young warrior named Xwechtáal is tasked with sidesplitting the double-headed serpent due to the fact that it is scaring distant the animals. Xwechtáal has the enactment of slaying the serpent's bully caput oregon atrocious head.

If helium slayed the bully head, helium could instrumentality each the powerfulness for himself. If helium slayed the atrocious head, it would bring backmost each of the animals.

The communicative is simply a acquisition in dealing with greed, Harry said. 

The portion took 3 years to create and volition beryllium unveiled to the public in July. 

"It's an astonishing feeling honestly, we couldn't beryllium much arrogant to beryllium selected for this. For maine personally, it feels similar an tremendous triumph for Coast Salish creation and individuality being represented successful salient places successful our city," Harry told CBC's On The Coast.

Japanese cedar

The brace said they took a travel to Japan earlier they pitched the project, wherever they drew inspiration for the piece.  

Red cedar was manus carved and burned inside of the sculpture — a accepted Japanese wood preservation method known arsenic Yakisugi that is utilized arsenic a occurrence protectant. It besides protects the wood from insects, fungi and mold, and tin marque it water-resistant — perfect for rainy Vancouver weather.

On the extracurricular of the sculpture, metal cladding wraps astir the file from the apical to bottom, with tapered edges astatine each extremity representing the heads of the serpent.

'Rooted successful the land'

Harry said he grew up proceeding stories astir the double-headed serpent from his father, Xwalacktun, who is simply a maestro carver successful the Squamish Nation, and thought that it deserved to beryllium represented successful a notable Vancouver space.

As portion of the story, local nations accidental the serpent slithered down the Stawamus Chief Mountain, leaving behind a achromatic enactment that tin inactive beryllium seen today.

"We wanted to archer those stories that are rooted successful the onshore and bring them to life," Harry said.

He said helium isn't a accepted storyteller but wanted to share the details to supply discourse to those who presumption the Sínulhḵay sculpture. He hopes it sparks people's curiosity to larn much astir Coast Salish culture.

"Ultimately, this is astir placemaking," Brevner said. "When you spell to the large cities astir the world, you onshore determination and you cognize wherever you are."

In Vancouver, she said, visitors don't ever cognize they're connected Indigenous territories.

"Because of what's happened here, I don't deliberation we're astatine that point. The much creation that goes up from this territory, I anticipation that radical tin look astatine these works and privation to larn much astir the communicative of Sínulhḵay," Brevner said. 

The duo collaborated connected a double-headed serpent mural backmost successful 2018 that was good loved connected West Broadway, but the gathering it was connected was torn down. 

Their caller sculpture is located successful the aforesaid area, which they accidental brings the tone of the double-headed serpent backmost to the neighborhood.

And due to the fact that the serpent is known for its underground digging successful the Squamish story, the artists accidental it's fitting that it's located adjacent to the caller underground Granville SkyTrain station, acceptable to unfastened successful 2 years.