Chris Cook III

Kwakwaka’wakw Nation

Chris Cook III was born in 1971. At the age of four, Chris experienced his first potlatch and was initiated into the Hamatsa Secret Society. He grew up in Alert Bay where he was immersed in the culture and traditions of his people.

In his youth, Chris studied to work as an industrial metalworker and machinist. In 1998, he completed a History degree at the University of Victoria. It was also during this time that Chris began an introductory silversmith course at Camosun College, in Victoria BC. His metalworking has since taken him abroad to Tuscany, Italy to study with renowned Silversmith artist Valentin Yotkov. Chris credits Harold Alfred, Francis Dick, and Terrence Campbell as influential to his work as a jewelry artist.

Chris has also traveled internationally with Kwakwaka’wakw dance groups and as a lecturer at Universities, to speak about his heritage and share his knowledge. In 2005, Chris was featured in the exhibition “Changing Hands: Art without Reservation 2”, presented at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City curated by Ellen Napiura Taubman and David Revere McFadden.