Tribal Galleries - West Coast Native Art

William Kuhnley Sr. has been carving Western Red & Yellow Cedar for over thirty-five years.

Some of his masterpieces can be found in Buckingham Palace, Princess Cruise Lines, The World Trade Centre, Macmillan & Blodel Head Offices, and other Galleries around the world.

His style and techniques are easily recognised with abalone and mother of pearl inlay. His talking sticks and totems are in great demand by private collectors worldwide.

Bill Jr. apprenticed under the world famous Haida carver Robert Davidson.

His art work has been especially noted by private collectors and is drawing attention from those interested in the Haida styles of coastal British Columbia.

This young artist has a great future ahead of him. Collectors possessing any of his work will see it's value continue to rise.

Some of the art on our web site has been purchased by private collectors. If you have a special order you would like to obtain directly from the artist made to your specifications then let us know. Sometimes the process can take some time. Most well known artists are very busy, and commissioning work can take several months. Contacting us directly will expedite this process of questions and answers.

If you e-mail us and request price quotes or wholesale price lists etc we will not respond. Our phone number is 1-250-746-7609. If you call us in the middle of the night you will wake us up. We live on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Please call us between 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. Pacific Standard Time.

We check our e-mail regularly. Usually we can respond within a day or two. When sending mail, you are contacting me, Kit Gillett . I am the only one you are contacting.

Please be sure to put your e-mail inside your message text. Most e-mail failures are server side, so an alternate e-mail is also beneficial. Also, please provide us with a phone number, and an alternate number if possible. Fax number if you have one.

Thanks for your understanding in advance.

Contact Kit Gillett kit@portrenfrew.com

Port San Juan, the Gordon River, and the two mouths of the San Juan River are home to the Pacheedaht, First Nations.

The remote village of Port Renfrew and their neighbouring native bands Ditidaht and Nitinat are within travelling canoe distance from each other.

Their cultures are rich in spirits and symbolism expressed thru their common art style called totemic or formline, using Western Red and Yellow Cedar.

Yellow cedar is an ideal material for carving dishes, pots, utensils, totems, and masks.

The totem represented both ceremonial privileges and family identity. The right to display designs or symbols indicated wealth & trading rights that belonged to the family.

Totems were never worshipped. The designs incorporated animals and the spirit world. They taught morality lessons or recounted adventures that involved ancestors or spirit beings along with history of the family.

When a great hunter would die, they would erect a totem bearing a carved image of the animal he most often hunted.