Charles Edenshaw

Charles Edenshaw

Charles Edenshaw was a folk and traditional Haida artist from the indigenous nation of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, who lived from 1839 to 1920. Edenshaw created art pieces in the traditional Haida style of the Pacific Northwest. Interestingly, in the Haida native language, there is no word for “artist”. His work is extremely important because he helped to preserve his culture.  Edenshaw was creating new pieces at the same time that his traditional way of life was disappearing.

Charles Edenshaw was born in 1839 in a small village on an island off the west coast of Canada. In 1862, there was a smallpox epidemic that decimated the Haida population. This indigenous nation went from 30,000 people to just 600. Edenshaw learned his craft under the tutelage of his uncle, Eagle Chief Albert Edward Edenshaw.  Edenshaw married another artist, Isabella who was a master weaver. The two often worked together; Isabella would weave objects that Charles would paint.  

Edenshaw was an artist of many mediums, including painting, woodcarving, jewelry, and argillite carving.  Edenshaw did a lot of commission pieces, some of which were for the Museum of Natural History in New York. Historically, the Haida art was made solely for the Haida people. By the time Edenshaw was making his work, his customers were anthropologists (including Franz Boas) and tourists. Charles Edenshaw found a way to not only endure through the hardships his people were having at the time, but created these beautiful artworks that were highly sought after and are still widely exhibited today. Though he didn’t sign his art, Edenshaw’s style is so distinct that his pieces are easily identifiable by art historians today.

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