Welcome
to the House of Himwitsa Native Art Gallery. It's been over
17 years since Lewis & Cathy George created this successful
First Nations owned and operated enterprise in Tofino B.C.
Lewis
& Cathy spoke with some of the local Elders and came up
with the name of "Himwitsa", which is derived from
the Nuu Chah Nulth language translating as "Story Telling
and the passing of knowledge from Elder to Youth".
The
George family comes from the Ahousat Tribe located on Flores
Island just 12 miles northwest of Tofino.
Living
in the small town of Tofino and the gateway to the Pacific Rim
and Clayoquot Sound, Lewis & Cathy watched the small fishing
and logging village of Tofino transform into the bustling worldwide
attraction for the wildlife and natural beauty and cultural
history of the local area. Now, year round we receive visitors
from around the world. As we enter into the 21st Century, we
have decided that the internet helps make our world that much
smaller, as our visitors who never bought those treasures and
regret wishing they had, now can from their homes
The
Original Artwork by our various Artists have been recognized
for their highly elaborate stylizations portraying their cultural
oral histories and mythology. We've had Museum Curators choose
pieces from the gallery for their Collections. As well as helping
provide family histories of Weavers for researchers looking
for information for museum exhibits.
We
have had great success in shipping pieces as small as a gold
ring up to 6-foot
totem poles all around the world.
What
makes our Art Gallery Different? Being First Nations Owned and
Operated, artists prefer to sell their Artwork and have the
George family represent their creations. Rather than consignment,
the Artist set the prices. What this means is that the price
set, is a fair market value and the Artists are compensated
fairly. Just browse our Gallery and compare, we are unique -
we are First Nations representing First Nations.
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