Isabella Edenshaw

Isabella Edenshaw (c. 1842 – 1926) was a First Nations basket weaver who lived in Haida Gwaii. She was given this name by an Anglican priest when she was married. She is also known by the Haida names K'woiyeng, Yahgujanaas and S'itkwuns. Some sources list her birth year as 1858.

Family and personal life She was born in Klinkwan Village, Alaska, a member of the Yakulanas lineage of the Haida clan. Although she was an only child, her parents adopted a slave girl named Wiba as a playmate for Isabella. Her parents died of smallpox when she was young and she was raised by chief Albert Edward Edenshaw.

Around 1873, Isabella was wed to Charles Edenshaw in a traditional Haida ceremony. After converting to Christianity, they were married again in an Anglican service on December 27, 1885. The ceremony took place at St John's Church in Masset. Isabella's aunt and uncle Albert and Amy Edenshaw were married in the same ceremony, along with nine other couples.

Charles inherited a traditional plank house from his uncle and built a Victorian style home located in Masset. Isabella and Charles kept a large grizzly bear mortuary pole in the front yard that honoured Isabella's grandmother's sister. Together they had eleven children; Robert, Emily, George, Agnes, Florence, Nora, Alice, and four others that died in infancy. Their daughter Florence Davidson became a prominent Canadian artist. Their son Robert drowned in a swimming accident. Her woven baskets and hats are included in the collections of the McCord Museum, the National Gallery of Canada,