Bill Reid's work has long been acknowledged for its astute and eloquent analysis of Haida tradition, and for the paradox of making modern art from the old Haida stories. It helped to make the so-called renaissance of Northwest Coast Native art visible to all. Bill Reid and Beyond pays Reid the compliment of expanding on his own clear-eyed self-scrutiny as he came to stand for Native art and artists, more perhaps than he would have wished.
The book's nineteen contributors write from many perspectives, breaking down boundaries between art history and anthropology, between academic and artist, between colleague and politician.
Alert to the political, economic, and social events of Bill Reid's lifetime, which have radically changed the way in which Native art is produced and received, this book participates in the important ongoing debates about Native art, demonstrating vividly that the exchange of ideas can, like works of art, change people's minds.