Nathaniel P. Wilkerson

Tribal Enrollment Number: 5320201701

Nathan’s ancestry is through the Gitksan tribe in Hazelton (Gitan’maaxs) B.C. Canada, he is a member of the Wolf clan (lax Gibuu), house of “Amaget”. Nathan was raised in Terrace, B.C. and spent most of his time working on his family farm, the Skeena River Vegetable Farms.

At the age of 10 Nathan was first introduced to Native artworks by two different instructors, Randy Adams and Robert Stanley, who came to his elementary school and taught a number of lessons to the fourth grade class. Both instructors were very skilled artists and that first impression left a lasting mark in Nathan’s mind.

Shortly after, Nathan attended a seminar by Freda Diesing, and began taking private lessons to be properly schooled in the arts of his people.  It was during this year-long stint that Nathan learned the basic rules and concepts of the artwork and became familiar with most of the animals and their distinguishing characteristics. Nathan also began carving Red & Yellow Cedar and Yellow Cedar bas relief pieces, and had a killerwhale carving on exhibit at the International Museum of Children’s Art for a number of years.
After graduating from high school, Nathan moved to Provo, UT to begin attending Brigham Young University, served a two year mission for the LDS church in Nagoya, Japan, and in 1995 married Cynthia Joy Wilkerson. After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Math and Japanese, he lived for a short time in San Jose, California working for IBM.

Upon returning to Utah, he started a web hosting business with a childhood friend and incorporated NPS Internet Solutions, Inc in 1999.  At the beginning 2006, they sold the hosting business to another corporation and at this point were able to take a step back and look at where life had taken them. Nathan realized that he’d neglected one of his artwork and made the decision to never again completely remove himself from this tradition. Since then Nathan has begun to pursue it even more seriously and with a sense of purpose that was previously missing.
”I owe a great deal to Freda Diesing for the training I have received and also for the influence her work has had on my own. I prefer a more classical approach in my artwork with heavier form lines and a look that is probably more Haida than Tsimshian.
My wife is very supportive of my artwork and often helps in the composition of many of the pieces. We have four very active children and it is only with her support that I am able to take the time to generate new ideas and then execute them to the best of my ability.”