Beautiful Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation Hummingbird in flight is carved into a delightfully thick piece of wood. Measures 13 x 5.5 x 1.5, priced at $325.

This Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation artist, was born 1950 in Kingcome Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. The Kwakwaka’wakw people occupy the lower central region of the Pacific Northwest Coast. (Pronounced kwock-WOCKY-wowk or KWOK-wok-ya-wokw, also known as the Kwakiutl.)

He carves in yellow and red cedar wood and occasionally pine wood. His carvings always glow with his unique hand-rubbed finishing touch.

He lives now on Vancouver Island and teaches basic carving skills to elementary school children. Alfred is a very well known and very well-liked Northwest Coast Native artist who is preserving the carving traditions of his people.

The four laws that govern Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations people are:

• Respect for All of Creation: equality of humans, animals and the earth “all of creation”
• Maintenance of a Strong Spirituality
• The Value of a Relationship with our people and other Nations
• Bringing forth “the Gift of the Self”: an individual is connected to the community through what one uniquely brings to it.

For more information, see the documentary film Potlatch: A Strict Law Bids us to Dance.