Basketry was a woman's art. Women also wove cedar bark mats, capes, hats, and baby carriers. Baskets were used for gathering, cooking, and storing food. Today, as in the past, baskets are also made for sale and given as gifts at potlatches.

This dish exemplifies the extravagance of Kwakwaka'wakw ceremonial utensils. A typical feast dish, it is conceived of as a large sculptured animal, in this case a wolf, hollowed to receive the food it is to serve. Dishes of this sort belonged to the owner of a house and were accounted for in the origin myths of the family. They were highly valued and used only on occasions of great feasts. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

The paint is black, red, green, white, yellow, and brown.

The paint is red, black, green, and white.

Throughout the Northwest Coast, the raven takes a prominent place in mythology and art. It is important to note, however, that these representations are not all of the same mythical being. This mask depicts Gwagwakhwalanooksiwey, the man-eating raven who lives with the cannibal spirit in his great house in the mountains or at the north end of the world. An unusual feature distinguishes this particular raven mask. Typically, hamatsa masks of the early twentieth century are painted black with white eyesockets and red lips and nostrils. The use of orange paint and green paint around the eyes is known but rather uncommon. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Perhaps an example of the heyhliwey, or taming forehead mask, this small raven mask is an example of the restrained, sensitively designed hamatsa masks of the 1880s. The wearing of the heyhliwey on the forehead of the hamatsa's wife or sister is done during the last quiet dance of the hamatsa, and is said to symbolize the fact that the cannibal masks have been put in their places and the wildness of the hamatsa himself has been removed. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)