First Name: Robert

Last Name: Jackson

Full Name: Robert Jackson

Alternative Names: Nagwa

Date of birth: 1948

Place of birth: Port Edward, British Columbia, Canada

Community/Heritage: Hazelton Band, Gitskan People, Tsimshian Nation

Sex: Male

Art Media: jewellery, gold, silver, carving, serigraph

Bio: 

Robert Jackson was born in 1948 in Port Edward, B.C. He is from the Hazelton Band of the Gitskan People, part of the Tsimshian Nation. His Gitksan name is Nagwa and he holds the title of hereditary prince in the royal family of the People of Damelahamid. 

Jackson was already carving when he enrolled in the newly established Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Art and Design in Hazelton, British Columbia. There he studied wood carving and later jewellery making. 

In 1979, he opened the Skyclan Art shop in Prince Rupert, B.C which specialized in Northwest Coast art. When the gallery closed in 1984, Jackson returned to Hazelton and would take a six-year break from carving. This ended when he made a trip to Texas and met his future wife Hanna. When the two of them returned to Hazelton, Hanna was impressed by the art and history of the region and encouraged Jackson to resume carving. 

Exhibitions

1974: Canadian Indian Art, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada