Title: Northwest Coast Indian - Technology and the visual arts | Britannica
Headings: Technology and the visual arts
Technology and the visual arts
Discover wood-carving traditions handed down from past generations of the Northwest Coast Indian peoples
Kinship and family life
Religion and the performing arts

Content: Discover wood-carving traditions handed down from past generations of the Northwest Coast Indian peoples
Traditional wood carving of the Northwest Coast Indians. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article
The peoples of this region were noted for their artistic skill, and many everyday items were decorated in some way. More than most other groups in North America, Northwest Coast visual arts emphasized symmetry, neatness of finish, and embellishment through carving and painting. Traditional carving implements included adzes, mauls, wedges, chisels, drills, and curved knives, all made of stone; sharkskin was used for sanding or polishing wooden items. As far south as the Columbia River, wooden boxes were made of red cedar boards that were kerfed—cut nearly through transversely. The wood was steamed at these points until it was flexible enough to shape into the form of a box. Dishes often were hollowed out of pieces of wood, sometimes plain, sometimes in the form of animals or monsters. Other items made of wood included spoons and ladles, canoe bailers, trinket boxes, chamber pots, masks and rattles used in ceremonies, magnificent memorial or totem poles and interior house posts, housefronts and screens, halibut hooks, and even the triggers of animal traps. Sometimes items were made from the horns of mountain goats, bighorn sheep, or elk, which were carved by essentially the same methods as wood.