Henry Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist from the Kwakwaka'wakw

Kwakwaka'wakw

The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...

 (formerly "Kwakiutl") people of coastal 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...

.

He was born in 1923 in the Kwakwaka'wakw community of Fort Rupert

Fort Rupert, British Columbia

Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company fort which was built and first commanded by William Henry McNeill in 1849 and later by John Work. It is located near present-day Port Hardy, British Columbia on Vancouver Island....

, B.C. He is a descendant of the renowned Native ethnologist George Hunt

George Hunt (ethnologist)

George Hunt was a Tlingit consultant to the anthropologist Franz Boas who through his contributions is considered a linguist and ethnologist in his own right...

. Hunt was originally a logger and fishermen but went to Victoria to help his father-in-law Mungo Martin

Mungo Martin

Chief Mungo Martin or Nakapenkem , Datsa , was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. He was a major contributor to Kwakwaka'wakw art, especially in the realm of wood sculpture and painting...

 at the British Columbia Provincial Museum in Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 in 1954, where he remained until 1974. He succeeded Mungo Martin there as chief carver in 1962.

Henry Hunt follows the Kwakwaka'wakw carving tradition, using minimum paint, deep cuts with traditional tools. He has carved a number of totem poles. Hunt's works can be seen at the Thunderbird Park

Thunderbird Park

Thunderbird Park is a park in Victoria, British Columbia next to the Royal British Columbia Museum. The park is home to many totem poles and other First Nations monuments...

 and around the world, including a pole in the town of Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted

-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...

 in the United Kingdom.

He is the father of the artists Shirley Ford, Tony Hunt

Tony Hunt (artist)

Tony Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist of Kwakwaka'wakw ancestry noted for his work carving totem poles.He was born in 1942 at the Kwakwaka'wakw community of Alert Bay, British Columbia. He received early training from his maternal grandfather Mungo Martin...

, Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt (artist)

Richard Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist from the Kwakwaka'wakw nation of coastal British Columbia.He was born in 1951 at Alert Bay, B.C., but has lived most of his life in Victoria, B.C. On his father's side, he is a descendant of the renowned Native ethnologist George Hunt...

, and Stanley Hunt.

He and Tony Hunt, his eldest son, carved a memorial pole to Martin at Alert Bay, B.C., in 1970-71.