This statue is a model of the large welcome figures used in a potlatch, a First Nations ceremony of feasting, gift-giving and wealth redistribution. Guests arriving in a village are greeted by figures of this kind, often depicted with arms outstretched or shading their eyes as if looking out across the water for arrivals.

Doug LaFortune is a master carver from the Tsawout people of the Coast Salish First Nation, north-western Canada.

The statue was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of the XV Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, in 1994