Kwakiutl  

This group of people inhabit what is now Vancouver Island and parts of British Columbia. Historically, they were hunter/gatherers relying heavily on the resources that the sea offered. Many continue to be commercial fishermen.  Their art consists of elaborate masking and the erecting of totem poles. They are responsible for raising the tallest pole in the world. Thunderbird imagery as well as that of another creature of legend, the Sisiutal, is employed frequently in their art. Those who lived on Alert Bay were pioneers in their building of the plank house and successfully incorporating it into Northwest Coast society.
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