CULTURAL GROUP:
Gitksan

BORN:
1931 (d. 2009)

BIRTHPLACE:
Kispiox, BC

After beginning his working life as a carpenter, Walter Harris attended the Ksan School of Northwest Coast Native Art in 1969. His teachers were Doug Cranmer, Robert Davidson, Bill Holm, and Duane Pasco. He eventually became an instructor himself later on. Walter collaborated in the carving of the murals at the Royal Bank in Vancouver, and the doors at the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology. In 1971, he carved totem poles for Kispiox, where he was the Hereditary Chief. He carved for BC Provincial Museum, Victoria, and for the Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, and has had exhibits at the Vancouver Centennial Museum, the Museum of Anthropology, and the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1979, he carved and painted a screen for the Canadian Embassy in Paris. Walter was featured in The Legacy exhibition from 1980, which travelled across Canada and the UK. In 2005, he received the Order of Canada. Walter passed away on January 12, 2009.