Aleut sculptor John Hoover has made his home in Washington state since 1950. His wood carvings and bronze sculpture are in many public and private collections, and he has been described as one of America's leading Native American artists.

Hoover was born in Alaska. His mother was Aleut and his father German, and he grew up learning Aleut traditions from his mother. He began by carving wood in the traditional Northwest Native American style but found it didn't suit him. In 1972, he went to study at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N. M., with the late Allan Houser, an Apache sculptor.

Hoover incorporates the old Indian myths in his work. His figures are elongated and graceful, whether carved from red cedar or cast in bronze.

Hoover's work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.; the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona; the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Mass.; and in Washington, at the Capitol in Olympia.