For your consideration is this Tlingit / Haida Hand-carved Thunderbird / Bear Totem, circa mid to late 1900s. The Thunderbird is a common motif in the indigenous artwork of America's and Canada’s West Coast. From Haida Gwaii through western Washington and down to northwestern Oregon, the image of a great eagle with curved horns serves as testament to an ancient legend shared by the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest. Coast Salish peoples include a variety of First Nations living along the Northwest Pacific Coast in British Columbia, from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island south to western Washington and northwestern Oregon in the United States. For centuries, medicine men regaled their fellow tribesmen with tales of a winged monstrosity which once dominated the western skies. Around smoky longhouse fires, they spoke of a massive eagle endowed with the ability to create storms. Lightning shot from its eyes when it blinked, and thunder boomed when it flapped its wings. This totem features the Thunderbird, wings outstretched, perched on the head of Chet-Woot, the bear. Chetwoot is a compound word from the Chinook Indian language, "chet'-woot", or, "its'woot" meaning black bear or grizzly. The adze is the most important carving tool used by indigenous carvers on the Northwest Coast. Many different styles of adzes were developed in ancient times, using ground stone blades made of a hard greenstone called jadite or nephrite. Chisels were made of beaver teeth and elk horn. It is believed that iron blades were made from metal salvaged from Japanese shipwrecks that floated in on the currents before the first Europeans brought iron in greater quantities to trade for furs in the late 18th century. This totem displays amazing detailed craftsmanship. Mounted on a wood base, the totem is most likely of Western red cedar which has an extensive history of use by Native Americans of coastal Oregon to southeast Alaska. Some northwest coast tribes refer to themselves as “people of the red cedar” because of their extensive dependence on the tree for basic materials. The totem is in very nice condition, unknown if name written on bottom of base is the carver. Measures 13.5"W x 16"H x 3.5"D on base, weight is 1lb, 2oz.