Williams, Wesley
WesleyWilliams (1942 - 1992) was a sixth generation Nitinaht carver of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. He was the son of Mike Williams and the grandson of Sam Williams. I am very lucky that I know several Williams family members, including his sister, which help to untangle this complicated family. The Williams Family split apart when Sam Williams married his second wife Nelly and moved to Seattle in the early 1900's. His sons Wilson and Mike remained on Vancouver Island with her mother, also a Nelly (nee Chester), while Sam with his wife Nelly Wilson (nee Wilson, that was also her maiden name) and his son Ray and his other siblings moved to Seattle.
The Williams family of artists has been carving for many generations. The result of this long family tradition is a style that is immediately recognizable as a "Williams". The Williams's animals have bold, exaggerated features—large teeth, bulging eyes and flared nostrils - they were easy to carve, while still adhering to the traditional stories and mythical characters of their ancestors.
