Canute, Nelson
Nelson Canute is Qw'umiyiqun (Comiaken), a Coast Salish native from the Cowichan tribes. He was born in 1932 and lived most of his life in the Cowichan Valley. Nelson mostly carved miniature totem poles and small figurines. However, in 1987 he and one of his students, hereditary chief Harvey Alphonse received a commission to carve a 12 feet "Transformation of Life" totem pole for the city of Duncan, on Vancouver Island, BC. The Transformation of Life was his first and only large pole.