Dempsey Bob is a Northwest Coast carver from British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada, who is of Tahltan

Tahltan

Tahltan refers to a Northern Athabaskan people who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut.-Social Organization:...

 and Tlingit First Nations descent. He was born in the Tahltan village of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River

Stikine River

The Stikine River is a river, historically also the Stickeen River, approximately 610 km long, in northwestern British Columbia in Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States...

 in northwestern B.C., and is of the Wolf clan

Laxgibuu

The Laxgibuu is the name for the Wolf "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to identically named clans among the neighboring Gitksan and Nisga'a nations.The name Laxgibuu derives from gibuu, which...

.

He began carving in 1969, studying with the Haida carver Freda Diesing

Freda Diesing

Freda Diesing was one of very few female carvers of Northwest Coast totem poles and a member of the Haida First Nation of British Columbia, Canada....

 in Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...

, B.C. In 1972-1974 he studied at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art ('Ksan) at Hazelton, B.C.

Hazelton, British Columbia

Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...

, in Gitksan territory.

He carves bowls, masks, and totem poles, mostly in the Tlingit style.

His apprentices have included the Tahltan carver Dale Campbell

Dale Campbell

Dale Campbell is a Canadian First Nations carver from the Tahltan nation of northern British Columbia.She was born in Prince Rupert, B.C., in 1954. Her ancestry is Tahltan from Telegraph Creek...

.

Sources

• Jensen, Doreen, and Polly Sargent (198) Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

• Macnair, Peter L., Alan L. Hoover, and Kevin Neary (1984) The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre.

• Stewart, Hilary (1993). Looking at Totem Poles. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97259-9.