The grizzly bear is a totem, or family crest, which the Indian peoples of the Northwest Coastal region carve on objects as a reminder of their spiritual guardians or ancestors.This bowl was made by an artist from the Haida people who live on Queen Charlotte Island. They began carving objects from argillite (a soft black stone) in the late eighteenth century. Bowls, pipes and miniature totem poles were made to meet the demands of traders and souvenir hunters from Europe and America.