Chilkat weaving

Chilkat weaving
Chilkat blanket in the collection of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, Alaska

Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest coastal tribes of Alaska and British Columbia. Chilkat blankets are worn by high-ranking tribal members on civic or ceremonial occasions, including dances.

Contents

Background

Chief Anotklosh (Taku) wearing a Chilkat blanket, Juneau, Alaska, ca. 1913

The name derives from the Chilkat tribe[1] in Klukwan, Alaska on the Chilkat River. The Tsimshian are reputed to have invented the technique, according to some Tlingit weavers, though this is not attested in Tsimshian sources. Chilkat weaving can be applied to blankets, robes, dance tunics, aprons, leggings,[2] shirts, vests, bags, hats, and wall-hangings.[3] Chilkat clothing features long wool fringe that sways when the wearer dances.[4] Traditionally chiefs would wear Chilkat blankets during potlatch ceremonies.[5]

Chilkat weaving is one of the most complex weaving techniques in the world. It is unique in that the artist can create curvilinear and circular forms within the weave itself. A Chilkat blanket can take a year to weave. Traditionally mountain goat wool, dog fur, and yellow cedar bark are used in Chilkat weaving.[6] Today sheep wool might be used. The designs used Northwest Coast formlines, a traditional aesthetic language made up of ovoid, U-form, and S-form elements[7] to created highly stylized, but representational, clan crests and figures from oral history – often animals and especially their facial features. Yellow and black are dominant colors in the weavings,[8] as is the natural buff color of the undyed wool. Blue can be a secondary color.[9]

Looms used in Chilkat weaving only have a top frame and vertical supports, with no bottom frame, so the warp threads hang freely. The weaver works in vertical sections, as opposed to moving horizontally from end to end.[10] Consequently, many designs are broken into vertical columns. As with most Northwest Coast art, these columns are bilaterally symmetrical.

Revival

Beginning of a Chilkat blanket, woven by Elsie Gale Stewart-Burton (Haida), Ketchikan, Alaska

In the 1990s only an estimated six people still practiced true Chilkat weaving, but today the technique is enjoying a revival. Jennie Thlunaut (1891-1986) was a celebrated Chilkat weaver, whose knowledge of formline design was so thorough, she was able to create her own designs following the traditional rules.[11] Clarissa Hudson and Anna Brown Ehlers are both Tlingit weavers who apprenticed with Jennie Thlunaut and are active Chilkat weavers today.[12][13]

These tribes also create ravenstail weavings and button blankets.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Shearar, 28
  2. ^ Shearar, 28
  3. ^ Brown, 124
  4. ^ Shearar, 28
  5. ^ Dubin, 403
  6. ^ Shearar, 29
  7. ^ Dubin, 398
  8. ^ Shearar, 29
  9. ^ Brown, 126-7
  10. ^ Shearar, 29
  11. ^ Brown, 125
  12. ^ Clarissa Hudson. Clarissa Hudson Studio. (retrieved 17 March 2009)
  13. ^ Anna Brown Ehlers: Chilkat Weaver. (retrieved 17 March 2009)

References

  • Brown, Steven C. Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998. ISBN 0-295-97658-6.
  • Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. ISBN 0-8109-3689-5.
  • Shearer, Cheryl. Understanding Northwest Coast Art. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2000. ISBN 0-295-97973-9.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chilkat weaving — ▪ American Indian art       narrowly, the robes, or blankets, woven by the Chilkat, northernmost of the Pacific Coast Indians (Native American) of North America. The Chilkat comprise a family within the Tlingit language group on the Alaskan coast …   Universalium

  • Weaving — Weaver (occupation) redirects here. This article is about textile weaving. For other uses, see Weaving (disambiguation). Warp and weft in plain weaving Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are… …   Wikipedia

  • Navajo weaving — A contemporary Navajo rug. Navajo rugs and blankets (Navajo: diyogí) are textiles produced by Navajo people of the Four Corners area of the United States. Navajo textiles are highly regarded and have been sought …   Wikipedia

  • Nisga’a people — For the Nisga’a language, see Nisga’a language. Nisga’a Nation …   Wikipedia

  • Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas — encompasses the visual artistic traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America, Mesoamerica, North America including Greenland, as well as Siberian Yup ik peoples who …   Wikipedia

  • Native American art — ▪ visual arts Introduction also called  Indian art  or  American Indian art        the visual art of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas, often called American Indians. For a further discussion of the visual art of the Americas produced in …   Universalium

  • Northwest Coast art — is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka wakw, Nuu chah nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre… …   Wikipedia

  • Loom — For other uses, see Loom (disambiguation). Draper power loom in Lowell, Massachusetts …   Wikipedia

  • Northrop Loom — A Draper loom in textile museum, Lowell, Massachusetts …   Wikipedia

  • Dobby loom — A loom from the 1890s with a dobby head. A Dobby Loom is a type of floor loom that controls the whole warp threads using a device called a dobby. Dobby is a corruption of draw boy which refers to the weaver s helpers who used to control the …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”