This intriguing vintage Tlowitsis First Nation Orca carving is unpainted, measuring 15 x 7 x .5, priced at $240. Clearly a masterful hand carved this piece. Zoom in on the photos to see the confident and accurate carving lines and overall style.

We are happy to present this small vintage piece from a very important First Nations artist. It is a vintage piece with patina and some signs of handling but overall the condition is very good.

The artist was born in Alert Bay, a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island. He is an esteemed artist and a member of the Tlowitsis (Lawit’sis) First Nations tribe of Turnour Island, British Columbia, Canada. Turnour Island is an island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, located between Gilford Island and West Cracroft Island.

The Tlowitsis (pronounced low-WIT-sis) are an indigenous Canadian First Nation of about 430 registered citizens. Traditional territories span the coastal area of Northern Vancouver Island, Johnstone Strait and adjacent mainland inlets.

From time immemorial until the 1960s, the Tlowitsis occupied numerous sites throughout these lands. Most Tlowitsis citizens live in communities on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. The tribe is currently in the process of establishing a new village for Tlowitsis citizens near Campbell River, BC. This new home community will be known as Nenagwas, or “a place to come home to” in English.

Alert Bay is formerly a thriving fishing village on the BC coast. Heritage buildings and old village houses on the waterfront still speak of the early pioneer days, where a fish saltery was in 1870. The waterfront boardwalks, ferry dock and marinas bustle with life, but most vivid today is the living culture of the ‘Namgis First Nation of the Kwakwaka’wakw.