The peoples of the pacific northwest coast have a long history of two- and three-dimensional visual expression. Wood plays a crucial role in the past. Since the contact with the white people new materials, media and techniques have been appropriated and applied to express mythical beings that once served only as crests. One of the most prominent beings among the vast pantheon is the trickster, which among the peoples of the northwest coast is at the same time often seen as a god, culture hero and transformer. The thesis is mainly dealing with the question how this figure has been depicted earlier and today and how far the meaning that is conveyed and associated with the depictions have altered over the time. Since the end of the potlatch prohibition (1884-1951) a renaissance occurred in the pacific art among the natives of the pacific northwest coast. Once mainly markers of family, genealogy and heritage, artworks of today express stakes concerning land claims or demonstrate the new awakened consciousness for their own ethnicity. Two and three-dimensional expressions of the trickster show mainly the raven. Besides the treatment of older meanings and contents, nowadays this figure is used in dealing with contemporary themes and subjects such as environmental protection eca., which is visible while interpreting these artworks.