Florence Edenshaw was born in Masset on September 15, 1896, the daughter of the Haida artist Charles Edenshaw (Chief Idɨnsaw) and his wife Isabella (K'woiyəng). She was given the Haida name Jadał q'egəngá ("Story Maid"). As a child, she help her mother to sew button blankets.
She was of the Raven moiety, of the Y'akwə'lanas lineage, and of the Shark House (Q'ad Nas), with crests that included Shark, Two-Finned Killerwhale, and Brown Bear.
Davidson became renowned for her blankets and for her spruce-root and cedar baskets.
In the 1960s she was consultant on Haida culture and Masset history to the writer Christie Harris, author of Raven's Cry. She was also a major consultant on Haida language to John Enrico.
She became well known through her collaborative autobiography written with the anthropologist Margaret B. Blackman, published in 1982.
Death and legacy
Davidson died December 13, 1993. Her artistic legacy continues with her grandsons, the brother Reg Davidson and Robert Davidson, who are woodcarvers and sculptors.
Blackman, Margaret B. (1982; rev. ed., 1992) During My Time: Florence Edenshaw Davidson, a Haida Woman. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN9780295959436
Harris, Christie (1966) Raven's Cry. New York: Atheneum. (Revised edition, Vancouver, Douglas & McIntyre, 1992.)
Jensen, Doreen, and Polly Sargent (1986) Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN9780774802642
Macnair, Peter L., Alan L. Hoover, and Kevin Neary (1984) The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN9780888944184