Haida represented

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The subject of the latest portrait unveiled in Parliament's hall of honor is Kim Campbell, Canada's first and still only female prime minister. Behind Campbell in the painting is the work of Haida fashion designer and artist Dorothy Grant.

Campbell's portrait was revealed on Nov. 30 during a brief ceremony attended by current Prime Minister Paul Martin. Painted by British Columbia artist David Goatley, the newest addition shows Campbell in a simple black dress with three robes hanging in the background. One of those is a red and black Raven Story Teller robe that Campbell purchased from Grant in 1998.

"In the portrait she has three robes in the background. One is her academic robe. And then there's her legal robe. For her political robe, she chose my robe. So that was quite an honor that she chose a First Nations' robe to represent her political side," Grant told Raven's Eye during an interview in Ottawa on Dec. 8.

The hall of honor is an ornate corridor that serves as the dividing line between the House of Commons and the Senate on Parliament Hill. Portraits of prime ministers line the walls.

Grant agreed with a laugh that it had been a good week for Haida, having her work take its place in Parliament at about the same time as the Supreme Court of Canada's Haida decision was handed down. The court decision recognized her people's right to be consulted on resource harvesting on their traditional land. Grant said she was delighted to be part of Canadian history, despite the occasional tensions between her people and Canada.

"I'm really honored to be the first Aboriginal person to be included," she said.

Because she was not directly involved in the creation of the portrait, Grant was not informed that her work was in it. She learned of it when British Columbia Senator Pat Carney called several days after the ceremony.

"I haven't had a lot of time to think about it because it's only been a little over 24 hours that I've actually known about it. To put it in a context that, yes my work has been immortalized in such a place of high honor in Canada, it really, really is an honor. It's a woman that's chosen it. It just brings attention to our issues, that we are something to identify with and reckon with in Canada," Grant said.

Her friends are making sure she appreciates the significance of this development.

"They said to me, 'You know you will be forever in the house of honor.' Wow. I never thought of it that way. I guess that's something to add to my resume," she said.