The Kwakwaka'wakw of the Pacific Northwest were the first people to inhabit Northern Vancouver Island and the coastal areas of present day British Columbia. They are noted for their exceptional skills in carving intricate totem poles for the purpose of tracing and recording relationships with their ancestors. Animal bone, sea shells, and wood were primarily used by the Kwakwaka'wakw to carve items for personal and ceremonial functions or as a commodity to be traded with other clans. The western red cedar was a preferred tree used in fashioning totem poles. The tree was abundant and the red wood was soft with few knots. For smaller carvings, the Kwakwaka'wakw used yellow cedar, a hard wood, but still easy to be worked over by hand. The current population consists of approximately 6,000 people of whom less than 5% continue to speak their native language.
