Nathan Paul Jackson was born into the Sockeye Clan on the Raven side of the Chilkoot-Tlingit tribe. Jackson was raised in Southeastern Alaska, spending most of his time in the Haines area. Much of his early education in his Tlingit heritage was conducted by his clan uncle and grandfather.

Upon completion of his military service in Germany in 1959, he returned to Alaska. After two years of carving and commercial fishing, he enrolled at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. There he specialized in fabric design, silk screen, and graphics.

In 1964, he returned to Haines, where he began working with Alaska Indian Arts and taught woodblock and silk-screen techniques for Manpower Development. He also participated as a member of the Chilkat Dancers. Since 1967, he has been a freelance artist doing traditional-style woodcarving, jewelry, and design, usually on a commission basis.

He has been an instructor in woodcarving and design at the Alaska State Museum, Sheldon Jackson College, Totem Heritage Center, and the University of Alaska. He has also had several apprentices working under him in conjunction with the Native Apprenticeship Program, sponsored by Alaska State Council on the Arts, as well as with a totem project in Saxman, a native village two miles south of Ketchikan.

At this point in his career, in addition to masks and smaller items, Jackson has carved more than 50 totem poles, some in international locations and museums, for both public art and private collections.