CULTURAL GROUP:
Kwakwaka'wakw

BORN:
24 August 1942 - 15 December 2017 

BIRTHPLACE:
Alert Bay, BC

Tony Hunt was the eldest of six sons born to artist Henry Hunt and Helen Hunt, daughter of Mungo Martin, also a respected artist with whom Tony trained as a youth. He was a hereditary Kwakwaka'wakw chief through this maternal line. Hunt was a world-renowned champion of and ambassador for traditional Northwest Indigenous culture, having learned potlatch dances, the Kwak’wala language, and more from his grandfather. Hunt's works (predominantly totem poles -- he's carved more poles than any other Northwest coast artist) are shown the world over, from Japan to Mexico to Germany to Victoria. In 2010, Tony Hunt Sr. was awarded the Order of British Columbia and an honorary doctorate from Royal Roads University.