Tony Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist of 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...

 ancestry noted for his work carving totem poles.

He was born in 1942 at the Kwakwaka'wakw community of Alert Bay, 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 received early training from his maternal grandfather 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...

. He is also 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...

.

After Martin's death in 1962, Hunt became assistant carver to his father Henry Hunt

Henry Hunt (artist)

Henry Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist from the Kwakwaka'wakw people of coastal British Columbia.He was born in 1923 in the Kwakwaka'wakw community of Fort Rupert, B.C. He is a descendant of the renowned Native ethnologist George Hunt...

 at 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...

 in Victoria, B.C. His brothers, Stanley Hunt and 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...

, are also professional carvers. In 1984 he carved a replacement totem pole, called Kwanusila

Kwanusila

Kwanusila is a 12.2 meter tall totem pole carved from red cedar. It stands in Lincoln Park at Addison Street just east of Lake Shore Drive in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois...

 (Thunderbird

Thunderbird (mythology)

The Thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a "supernatural" bird of power and strength...

), for one his ancestor George Hunt had made for the people of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

In 1970 he opened the Arts of the Raven Gallery in Victoria.

Sources

• Hunt, Ross (2007) "The Hunt Family's Trip to West Germany to Attend the Bundesgarten Show." Anthropology News, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 20–21.

• 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.