1971 Vintage 6” Hand-carved wood Stylized Bear (“Chet-Woot”) by Rodney A. Pullar For Sale

Carved back in 1971 from a single block of wood and stained to a dark brown, this PNW stylized bear was created by the late Rodney Allen Pullar who was an accomplished and renowned woodcarver from Bellingham, WA. His signature and business name of “Sasquatch Dolls” is inscribed on the bottom of this work of his along with the year that it was carved.

Of all the animals found in the wilderness, it was the bear (“Chet-Woot” here in the PNW) whom the Native Americans considered to be most like Man with its ability to stand upright on its hind legs and use its “arms” in a manner similar to that of Man. The bear was viewed as an animal “brother” to Man and it was an animal that the Natives let live in peace unlike the other men who would come later.

This wood carving depicts the bear standing on its hind legs with its “arms” by its side. Many PNW wood carvings of bears/“Chet-Woot” are stylized in this manner of the “brother bear” on its hind legs as opposed to being depicted on all four because of its perceived kinship to Man in the eyes of Native Americans.