Bruce belongs to the following crests/clans: whale and sun, sisiutl, raven, thunderbird and kulus. Bruce trained under teacher Tony Hunt at the Indian Arts and Crafts Society in the 1970s and completed design courses at the B.C. Provincial Museum in Victoria. Bruce also studied with celebrated Kwakwaka'wakw artist Doug Cranmer for three years and has trained with printmaker and carver, Richard Hunt. Bruce and his brother, Harold Alfred, also assisted with the restoration of the Mortuary Poles at Alert Bay. He has exhibited his work at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and has pieces in the British Columbia Provincial Museum and the University of British Columbia, at the Museum of Anthropology. Bruce predominantly carves masks, rattles and bent boxes. He is regarded as one of the best bent box makers in Canada. In 2008, Bruce received a British Columbia Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art.