by the magnificent pottery and jewelry in the region. When it
comes to the Pacific Northwest region which covers the states of
Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Canada) and the southern
part of Alaska, the Native American art here is mostly wood
carvings. This is not surprising since unlike the southwest
desert, the Pacific Northwest is abundant with forests which have
provided the wood as raw material for the region's Native
American Indian art.
The wood carvings of the Pacific Northwest Native American art
come in many different forms. The huge totem poles which are
carved on entire tree trunks are probably the most famous.
Certainly the most common form of contemporary Pacific Northwest
Native American art is the plaque wood carving. The entire range
of Pacific Northwest Native American Indian art subjects
including eagles, ravens, thunderbirds, bears, killer whales and
salmons are carved as plaques to be hung on the wall. A more
complex project and usually higher priced would be the masks
which are also carved out of wood. The Pacific Northwest Native
American artists make some of the most striking aboriginal masks
in the world.
Creative artists and carvers from this region have also used wood
to carve out bowls, paddles, rattles and boxes which are all
expertly decorated with Pacific Northwest Native American Indian
designs. Some carvers have even carved more day to day objects
such as letter openers out of wood again decorated with the
region's Native motifs. Although not restricting themselves to
just wood, the Pacific Northwest Native American artists also do
art prints, paintings and precious metal jewelry but overall wood
is still the most common material used in their artwork.
The Pacific Northwest style of Native American Indian art is
still unknown to many parts of North America and the rest of the
world but this will definitely change as the 2010 winter Olympics
in British Columbia approaches. The world will see British
Columbia and as visitors to this Canadian province have already
noticed, there are fine examples of Pacific Northwest Native
American Indian art everywhere one goes in the west coast of