12 Facts About Doug Cranmer

Doug Cranmer was born in 1927 in Alert Bay, British Columbia and given the Kwakwaka'wakw name "Kesu'" at the age of ten.

Doug Cranmer inherited the position of 'Namgis chief from his father, taking the hereditary name of Pal'nakwala Wakas, meaning "great river of overflowing wealth".

Doug Cranmer began drawing and carving on his own early in life, but was schooled in the style and traditions of Kwakwaka'wakw art by Mungo Martin.

In 1962, in partnership with Alfred Scow and Richard Bird, Doug Cranmer established a commercial gallery in Vancouver called "The Talking Stick".

The partners wound up the business in 1967, as Doug Cranmer's growing reputation and large-scale commissions meant he had less time to devote to creating works for The Talking Stick.

Doug Cranmer was later commissioned to create the doors and totem poles for the BC pavilion at Expo '70.

Doug Cranmer has been described by others as an artist and master, but he himself eschewed such labels, believing that the use of such terms would make him complacent in his work.

Doug Cranmer preferred to describe himself as a "whittler and doodler".

Doug Cranmer employed modern tools previously not used in Northwest Coast art, such as chainsaws and lathes.

Doug Cranmer was the first to create what is a ubiquitous staple of Northwest Coast art, the "loon bowl".

Doug Cranmer often experimented with new styles, such as an attempt to design an abstract totem pole in the round.

Doug Cranmer was a teacher, instructing other First Nations artists at a studio in Alert Bay and, later, at Hazelton, British Columbia and the Museum of Vancouver.