Tahltan, Tlingit
(b. 1948)
Dempsey Bob is a renowned master carver from the Tahltan and Tlingit tribes of the Northwest Pacific Coast of North America. Dempsey was born in 1948 of the wolf clan in the Tahltan community, Telegraph Creek. Today he is internationally regarded as one of the foremost indigenous artists of his generation, and his works are seen by countless visitors to museums, galleries and public spaces around the world.
Dempsey’s creative journey started early on in his life. He and his siblings would draw, paint, and eventually carve all the toys they wished for. Dempsey always felt drawn to working with wood in a practical way, initially wanting to be a carpenter like his father but not considering himself as an artist.
His training began in 1969 in Prince Rupert at Friendship House under the tutelage of Freda Diesing (1925-2002) of the Haida tribe. Freda was pivotal in the revival of mainland carving, being the first woman to carve large totem poles on the Northwest Coast in modern times. She taught many artists, and her students were like her children. She taught her students how to make their tools when they couldn’t afford any and bought them into her home to learn from her old books. In these old books, were the only place Dempsey and his peers could access and learn about old Northwest Coast works; the old traditional pieces had either been burned and destroyed in the early 1900s or held in museums and private collections around the world.
With the encouragement of Freda, Dempsey continued his training in 1972 and 1974 at the Gitaanmax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art in Hazelton, British Columbia. Dempsey had to split his time at Gitanmaax to support his family, initially spending only 10 weeks in the course before having to return home for work and resuming in 1974 to complete the course. During his course, Dempsey carved a totem pole in Hazelton alongside his teachers Earl Muldon, Walter Harris, and Victor Mowatt, all of whom were Gitxan tribe. With these mentors Dempsey was able to learn totem pole carving, to make bowls, jewellery techniques and more.
Freda then directed Dempsey to take up a teaching position at the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska, and later the University of Alaska where he could connect with his Tlingit heritage and study old Tlingit poles first-hand rather than through photographs in books. Dempsey continued his teachings at community centres, indigenous organisations, schools, and prisons, all while continuing his research and refining his craft.
In 1980, with the help of Northwest Coast art supporter and art collector George Austin (Bud) Mintz, Dempsey exhibited at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria as part of The Legacy exhibition. Bud continued to advocate for Dempsey and other Northwest Coast artist in fine arts commercial spaces, where they were not yet recognised as artists. Dempsey continued exhibiting and making sales, but it wasn’t until the late 1980’s where he found his audience. Dempsey held his first solo exhibition at Grace Gallery, Vancouver, where American collector George Gund purchased the entire collection 20 minutes before opening. From there, Dempsey’s career flourished, from large scale commissions to deals with renowned collectors. Dempsey began attending conferences, advocating for First Nations artists and networking with others from around Canada, and eventually all over the world.
Dempsey’s first interaction with Toi Māori was in 1998. Garry Nicholas (then Tumu Whakarae of Toi Māori Aotearoa) had been attending the first gathering of Canadian Native Artists in Ottawa, Canada. Garry had been invited by the Canadian Arts Council to speak on behalf of Toi Māori and attended a screening of a film about Dempsey and his work. Following the screening, Garry approached Dempsey, and a connection formed instantly. Dempsey and his nephew Stan Bevan (Tahltan, Tlingit, Tsimshian) sat with Garry at the airport the next day, finding endless similarities in cultures and art while Garry awaited his flight back to Aotearoa. The next time the pair would see each other would be at Evergreen State College during a gathering of Indigenous Visual Artists of the Pacific Rim in 2001, ‘Asta’bsHil3b – Return to the Swing’ (the first indigenous artists gathering hosted by Evergreen State College and the Sgiwgwialtx longhouse).
The next year, there was funding for Dempsey to visit for the 2002 New Zealand Festival of the Arts. That same year, Te Rūnanga Whakairo was established and Hinemoana waka was proposed; Toi Māori calling upon Dempsey in 2003 for an opportunity of collaboration. Dempsey donated the proceeds from a recent sculpture to kickstart the project and helped support Te Rūnanga Whakairo to see this waka come to fruition.
In 2014-2018, Dempsey carved Tahltan-Tlingit elements for Pai Mārire whare, which resides at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA. The project was led by tohunga whakairo Lyonel Grant and was assisted by several Northwest Coast artists and carvers. More recently, Dempsey, Stan Bevan and Lyonel created a totem pole, Pacific Song of The Ancestors; unveiled in 2023 at Emily Carr University, Canada, the totem pole was intended to symbolise the University’s indigenous community outreach programme in British Columbia. Dempsey found it “imperative that it incorporated a Māori component – that component being Lyonel Grant,” who had built relationships with the community of the Northwest Coast during his work on PaiMārire.
With advocacy for him and his fellow indigenous artists, came advocacy for his mentor, friend, and own advocate, Freda Diesing. Freda rarely received the recognition she deserved, her work not being as well respected as those of male carvers and some of her works raising exponentially in value only after she had passed. In 2006, Dempsey and his nephews Stan Bevan and Ken McNeil, created the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art at the Coast Mountain College in Terrace, B.C. Dempsey continued there as an advisor, continuing Freda’s legacy of revitalising their traditional practices.
Over the course of his career, Dempsey has been honoured with numerous prestigious awards that recognise his exceptional contributions to the arts and Tahltan and Tlingit cultural preservation. In 2007, he received the 1st Artist Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Columbian Achievement Foundation. His influence extended beyond the artistic community, as evidenced by his 2011 recognition of an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Athabasca University, followed by an induction into the Order of Canada as an officer in 2013 for his dedication to preserving the Tahltan-Tlingit cultures. In 2014, Dempsey was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of British Columbia, further cementing his impact in both academic and cultural spheres. Most recently, in 2021, he was one of only six artists across Canada to be recognised with a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts Artistic Achievement Award, celebrating his continued influence and innovation in the arts.
Dempsey’s works are not only held in esteemed collections across Canada and internationally, but he has also received numerous major commissions, further highlighting his stature in the art world. His pieces are part of prominent Canadian institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of History, the Royal British Columbian Museum, and the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology. His art is also housed at prominent cultural sites like Canada House in London and the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. Internationally, his works have found a place in the collections of the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan and the Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde in Germany, further solidifying his global reach.
In addition, his pieces are featured in significant regional collections such as the Audain Art Museum, the Columbia Museum of Ethnology, and the Centennial Museum in Ketchikan. Beyond these collections, Dempsey has completed major commissions for the Vancouver Airport Authority, the Museum of Northern British Columbia, the city of Prince Rupert, and the Owase Community Cultural Centre in Japan. These placements in such diverse and prestigious collections underscore Dempsey’s lasting impact on both Canadian and international art history.
Written by Hemaima Keane (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata) February 2025