Reg Davidson is a Canadian First Nations carver and a member of the Haida nation.

He was born in 1954 at the Haida village of Masset

Masset, British Columbia

Masset , formerly Massett, is a village in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Columbia. It is the western terminus of the Yellowhead Highway...

 on the Queen Charlotte Islands

Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...

 of 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...

. His parents are Claude and Vivian Davidson and, through Claude, he is the grandson of the Haida artist and memoirist Florence Davidson

Florence Davidson

Florence Edenshaw Davidson was a Canadian First Nations artist from the Haida nation who created traditional basketry and button-blankets and was also a respected elder in her First Nations community, the Haida village of Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.She was born in Masset on...

. He is a member of the Eagle moiety, Ts'ał'lanas lineage. He began carving argillite

Argillite

An argillite is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is...

 in 1972 and became apprenticed to his older brother, the carver Robert Davidson

Robert Davidson (artist)

Robert Charles Davidson, CM, OBC , is a Canadian artist of Haida heritage. His specialties are in carving , sculpture and painting....

, during the carving of a housefront and houseposts in honor of their grandmother Florence Davidson

Florence Davidson

Florence Edenshaw Davidson was a Canadian First Nations artist from the Haida nation who created traditional basketry and button-blankets and was also a respected elder in her First Nations community, the Haida village of Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.She was born in Masset on...

's father Charles Edenshaw

Charles Edenshaw

Charles Edenshaw was a Haida artist from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. He is known for his woodcarving, argillite carving, jewellery, and painting.-Background:...

 in 1977 and 1978.

Davidson works in argillite

Argillite

An argillite is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is...

 and wood and also produces silkscreens.

Sources

• Blackman, Margaret B. (1982; rev. ed., 1992) During My Time: Florence Edenshaw Davidson, a Haida Woman. Seattle: University of Washington 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.