Photo Gallery

Innumerable petroglyphs have been found on the Northwest Coast. Only in the rarest of cases is it possible to determine their age. Two killer whales are recognizable in the photograph, and the figure to the right probably represents a pregnant gray whale. These petroglyphs were found near the deserted Makah village of Ozette.

Similar to other Northwest Coast villages, the new community centers are being modeled on traditional building styles. This is the longhouse of New Aiyansh, on which a thunderbird and several killer whales have been painted.

In this image from Skedans, a killer whale on a mortuary pole is "biting" the trunk of a tree, while the figure above it, a bear, "grasps" a branch. The battle against nature appears to be hopeless.

Argillite totem pole from the last century. From top to bottom, there is a bear, a raven with a frog on its wing, the figure of a chief and a hawk with a killer whale in its talons. (36 cm, MOA)
MOA = Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Of the four supporting posts of the ceremonial house in Alert Bay, the two posts in back are identically carved with the figure of the forest giantess Tsonoquoa with a thunderbird. The cross beam represents the two-headed sea monster Sisiutl. The carving was done by a local artist, Henry Speck. The board wall, which shields the sacred part of the ceremonial house, depicts a thunderbird and a killer whale.

During the renaissance of traditional Kwakiutl culture, a large ceremonial house was built in Alert Bay at the initiative of the former chief, James Sewid. It is 15 meters (49 feet) wide, 21 meters (69 feet) long and 5.1 meters (17 feet) high. The center's opening on June 18, 1966, was planned to coincide with the Centennial of the Province of British Columbia. The front is decorated with an enormous killer whale, the door is protected by the figure of a guardian.

In 1980 the Nimkish Kwakiutl in Alert Bay opened the new Umista Cultural Centre. Its front, decorated with a thunderbird and killer whale, is patterned after an old chiefs house.

Haida argillite platter made in the 1880s, showing two killer whales. The rim is inlaid with opercula, sea snail plugs. (42 ern, MOA)
MOA = Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

«Scana with the Woman» (Killer Whale and Woman). Silk-screen from Freda Diesing (1980).

On this silk-screen created in 1985 in the traditional style - if that can even be said about this new art form, which is relatively new to Northwest Coast art - Tony Hunt has drawn three important heraldic animals. At the top is the eagle, his claws on the head of a killer whale. which is resting on a beaver.

In 1972 Bill Reid created this silver killer whale on an argillite stand, copying his own 1970 masterpiece, which he had worked in gold for the traveling exhibit «The Legacy». The shape was created by means of the «lost-wax» method. (6 cm, NMM)
NMM = National Museum of Man, Ottawa

«Hesquiat Hunter» (A Hesquiat-Nootka hunting a killer whale). Silk-screen from Tim Paul.

Shark mask made of alder, with hair and haliotis inserts. The artist Reggie B. Peterson carved it to .qualify as a master carver in 1980. It represents the crest of his clan.