Someone vandalized this 14-foot-tall statue in Pierce County. It took 2 years to sculpt
The “Our Fisherman, Our Guardian” statue was vandalized and needs repairs.
The statue sits along the shoreline at 4009 Harborview Dr. in Gig Harbor. The canoe on its right side was found on the ground Tuesday morning, Jan. 23. The city of Gig Harbor posted the news on Facebook.
“Since there was no other signs of damage, we hypothesize this could’ve been someone attempting to climb the art,” City Administrator Katrina Knuston told the Gateway.
“Our Fisherman, Our Guardian” is a sculpted redwood guardian that faces the water to welcome those arriving by sea.
The statue is a visual representation of the city, honoring the first people who lived in the area, the Swift Water band of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, who lived on the Gig Harbor waterfront for centuries.
The 14-foot-tall sculpture is of a fisherman, in a cedar-woven hat, between two canoes. The salmon the fisherman holds is copper with glass inlays, Guy Capoeman, the artist of the statue and the Quinault Nation president, previously told The Gateway.
The statue was described as “medicine for our people” by Puyallup Tribal Council member Anna Bean at the honoring ceremony in 2022.
Knuston said at this time there is not a timeline or cost estimate for the repairs that she could share, but they’d like to get the statue repaired as soon as possible.
City staff were in discussions with Capoeman as of late the night of Jan. 23.
Capoeman has agreed to take the broken canoe back to his shop, redesign it, then reattach it to the statue, he told the Gateway Thursday morning, Jan. 25. He said he is unsure of an exact timeline for repairs.
People climbing the statue was something Capoeman worried might happen, but ultimately he thought people would respect the piece once it was up.
“Anytime that vandalism occurs on public art, it’s a very disrespectful act,” Capoeman told the Gateway. “Not only for the citizens of the area, but also for the history of the monument. This is something that we hope people will respect and honor and understand the importance of such a historical reference to the area.”
Police have no leads or any information on the incident, Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey told the Gateway.
The Gateway has also reached out to the communications director for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians for comment.
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 10:42 AM.
