Pete Esquiro is an Alaska Native of Tlingit, Tsimpsean, and Filipino decent, born in Ketchikan, Alaska when Alaska was still a territory. His mother is Tsimpsean Eagle and Killer Whale clan from Metlakatla, Alaska. His father’s family is Taku River Tlingit Eagle and Bear clan from the Juneau area. In his early years Pete fished for salmon with his grandparents aboard their small salmon troller on Southeast Alaska’s west coast. His early 20s were a series of jobs including everything from bartending, cherry picking, fighting forest fires, falling timber, loading logging trucks, thinning timber, and anything else that came along.
He went on to earn an Associate of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Arts degree and finally a Master of Arts degree in special education. After teaching the deaf for several years he took a job as an administrator at a community college in Oregon where he worked to save enough money to buy a boat and head back home to Alaska. It was at this time that Pete began to have the time, and resources to explore his interest in art, lapidary, and jewelry making.
Pete has lived in Sitka for the past twenty-two (22) years; he has raised four (4) children here and has no plans to leave. Nowadays, Pete is busy raising salmon for Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association where he is the General Manager. When the fish politics get to be too much he unwinds by cutting stones, carving silver and making jewelry.
Pete’s artwork represents an accumulation of a lot of experience, a love of the sea and an appreciation for all the things that nature provides, in addition to his cultural heritage. He is a completely “self taught” silver and goldsmith, also with an intense interest in lapidary, from collecting to faceting. He collects and uses materials from all over the world, but some of his favorites are those that come from the animals and the lands of Alaska. His other favorite source of materials is the ocean. Pete believes that his artwork has no bounds, so you may see everything from “traditional “ to highly contemporary elements within a single piece.