Raven Transforms

This first-ever monograph of a Haida argillite carver features nearly 200 artworks by Kihl'yahda Christian White, most never seen in public before, along with the artist’s telling of the supernatural stories that inspired them.

Kihl’yahda Christian White is often described by his peers as a “natural-born carver.” Since first picking up a knife as a teenager five decades ago, he has become one of the most accomplished artists on the Northwest Coast and a fierce advocate of Haida culture. At home in Haida Gwaii, he is known for monumental cedar poles, longhouses, and canoes that bring the entire community together in celebration.

Beyond Haida Gwaii, he is best known for intricate carvings in argillite, or “black shale,” the fine-grained stone found only on Haida Gwaii, its use strictly regulated by the Haida Nation. Since artists first started carving argillite to trade with Europeans around 1800 such works have served as emissaries for Haida culture, a practice that White continues today—his exquisite works with their dazzling inlays of abalone shell and mastodon ivory are highly sought-after by devoted patrons around the world.

The consistent demand for White’s argillite work means it rarely enters the public view. For this publication, several major private collections in Canada and the U.S. were newly photographed so the works can be seen beyond their homes for the first time. Gary Wyatt, White’s longtime gallerist, interviewed the artist at length to inform his sketch of a life devoted to art and community. In her foreword Karen Duffek reflects on the “two worlds” that his practices inhabit. And White himself shares two dozen traditional Haida stories that appear alongside his works, tales of Travelling Raven, Sea Grizzly, Volcano Woman, Lazy Son-in-Law, and more—the supernatural beings whose deeds shaped the Haida world, and whose unique forms are captured with brilliant elegance in White’s extraordinary work.