First Nations Model Raven Mask on Stand, painted with traditional red and black. Measures 22 x 12 x 6, priced at $1550. Hand-worked cedar bark fringe accents the top and back of the raven’s head. Base is simple wood, painted black. Very fine quality craftsmanship in the carving and painting.

The artist, Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations, was born 1950 in Kingcome Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. The Kwakwaka’wakw people occupy the lower central region of the Pacific Northwest Coast. 

He learned to carve from his father, and has carved with his brother, both well known artists. He lives now on Vancouver Island and teaches basic carving skills to elementary school children. He is a very well known and very well liked Northwest Coast Native artist who is preserving the carving traditions of his people. 

U’melth is the Raven, who brought the Kwakwaka’wakw people the moon, fire, salmon, the sun and the tides. The Kwakwaka’wakw creation narrative states the world was created by a raven flying over water, who, finding nowhere to land, decided to create islands by dropping small pebbles into the water. He then created trees and grass, and, after several failed attempts, he made the first man and woman out of wood and clay.