More than 3,000 years ago, Indigenous peoples of the coast of British Columbia (and adjacent areas of Washington State and southeastern Alaska) such as the Haida and Kwakiutl developed artistic traditions that are heralded throughout the world for their imaginative and stylistic qualities. Apart from their sophisticated design and refined craftsmanship, the masks and totem poles familiar from Northwest Coast Aboriginal art powerfully impacted the work of major American abstract artists and gave rise to a revival of craftsmanship on the Northwest Coast over the past thirty years, and shaped the work of contemporary Aboriginal artists who have largely worked within the mainstream western art world.