[4][5] As an infant, Edenshaw was also given the names N∂ngkwigetklałs (Nəngkwigetklałs) (“They Gave Ten Potlatches for Him”) and Skɨl'wxan jas ("Fairies Coming to You as in a Big Wave").

[3] At age 18, c 1857, Da•axiigang moved to the Haida Gwaii village of Masset to live with his uncle, the Sdast’aas Eagle chief Albert Edward Edenshaw (Eda’nsa) (1810-1894), an ironworker, coppersmith, jewellery-maker, and woodcarver who taught his nephew all of these skills.

[3] They had eleven children, four of whom survived to adulthood: Florence, Emily (White), Agnes (Yeltatzie), and Nora (Cogo).

It is assumed that his work pre-1880 included poles, masks, frontlets, chests, and feast dishes, which was the range of Haida art made for ceremonial use.

[3] Edenshaw's silver and gold pieces were likely made for use by the Haida people, as were carved wooden settees, cradles and tombstones.

These carvings included poles, chests, bowls, and platters in wood and argillite, and wooden masks, bentwood boxes, rattles, canes, model canoes and frontlets.

[3] He produced many commissioned works, including for the American Museum of Natural History,[1] and served as consultant to anthropologists.