Bill Helin is a Canadian artist, illustrator, jewelry designer engraver, writer, tourism and branding expert, drumming specialist, singing and verbal storyteller; and logo and gift product designer in the Northwest Coast style and a member of the

Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...

First Nation of northwestern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. His ancestry is from the Gits'iis tribe in the village of

Lax Kw'alaams A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...

, B.C. His father was Arthur Helin-(pronounced Hel-een) (Haymaas), was a commercial fisherman and basketball star, was also in Chief lineage in the Gitlan tribe of the Tsimshian Nation. Some of Bill's accomplishments include designing three patches worn by astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle ''Columbia'' 1996, and then two for Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk, on his second mission to the International Space Station in 2011. Plus a number of other important projects for the Canadian Space Agency. Five jewelry items were flown on the two missions along with Bill's patch designs. Bill and his mother, blanket maker, Carole Helin, (Listed in the book; Robes of Power), created a traditional hand made button blanket for the Canadian Space Agency, in the style of Robert Thirsk's Uniform patch design. In 1994 Bill carved a 40' dugout canoe called the Ravensong and the same year worked on the world's tallest (192' 3" tall)

totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...

known as the Spirit of Lekwammen, carved for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. In 2013 Bill carved two 15' red cedar totem poles for the Canadian International School of Hong Kong, in a 21/2 month time period, as their first artist in residence projects, teaching over 1800 students of the carving process and many other topics of First Nations art and culture. He is a cousin to the author

Calvin Helin Calvin Helin is a Canadian businessman and writer on aboriginal topics who is a member of the Tsimshian First Nation in northwestern British Columbia. He is from the Tsimshian village community of Lax Kw'alaams, B.C., son of Barry Helin (Niisł ...

, whose 2006 book, ''Dances with Dependency,'' he illustrated, along with many other images inserted into two other books by Calvin Helin. Bill was contracted b
Strong Nations Publishers
in Nanaimo to illustrate over 110 books since 2014. All these books and other learning toys and products are used in many schools and homes across Canada.

Sources

* Helin, Calvin (2006) ''Dances with Dependency: Indigenous Success through Self-Reliance.'' Vancouver: Orca Spirit Publishing and Communications. * Strong Nations Publishers, Nanaimo B.C. Tlingit First Nations book series: 8 bks written and illustrated by Bill Helin: Plus 106 more illustrated teaching books in the Strong Readers Series, widely used in most education systems in Canada. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations artists Tsimshian woodcarvers {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub