Mike Webber

Medium: Wood Carving

Mike Webber

Mike's first passion was commerical fising.  Mike, his older brother and sister, Billy and Kim, and his parents, Bill and Irene, have all worked intensively in the fisheries.  Mike joined his family seining when he was seven.  His first boat duties were towing in the skiff.  By the time he was fourteen, Mike owned his own gillnetter and was fishing the Copper River Flats; by the time he was eighteen, he was operating his own seiner in the Sound, hiring his own crew. It was not long before he was involved in herring seining and the longline and pot fisheries for gray cod, halibut, black cod, and crab; Mike has even clammed commercially.

Mike was taught to respect and use wisely the resources of his homeland by his parents, a duo with amazing energy and enthusiasm for their commerical fishing livelihood and subsistence lifestyle, their community, and their family.

Mike's second career passion is carving.  Significant in Mike's development as an artist are three piotal events; sobriety, a serious boat injury that casued permanent spinal cord damage, and his subsequent involvement on the Native Village of Eyak Tribal Council. 

During his two year on the Native Village of Eyak Tribal Council, Mike became increasingly  interested in Native heritage and culture, and he began delving into the local and indigenous history of this region.  Through Council involvement and his reading, Mike discovered an interest and pride in his cultural heritage that he barely acknowledged prior to his accident.  This newfound interes combind with Mike's natural energy and need to be active led to what has become an intense physical, mental and spiritual outlet: contemporary and traditional wood carving.

Mike senses his ancestors' presence during the research process and in the bodily act of carving.  Mike profoundly feels that his carvings become imbued with these powerful, guiding spirits.  A flowing channel, the wood's grain courses with his ancestral spirits and the corporeal spirit of the living, vibrant community of Cordova.