Where did the Chilkat blanket come from?
This post explores one such Chilkat blanket in the Bowers Museum’s collections, looking at the history, craft, and provenance of the blanket. Per the oral tradition of the Chilkat Tlingit, the blankets were first produced by Tsimshian tribe of the Northwest Coast.
What kind of blanket did the Tlingit use?
Chilkat Blanket. The Chilkat blanket, associated with the Chilkat (a northern band of Tlingit ), was traded along the Northwest Coast. The blanket was made of mountain goat wool spun over a core of cedar -bark string. The men hunted the goat, constructed the frame on which the weaving was done and painted the design board from which the women,...
How long does it take to make a Chilkat blanket?
Despite being made for sale, the blankets are immensely difficult and time-consuming to create. A single blanket may take up to two years of periodic work to complete. The result is that not many Chilkat blankets were produced, even at the height of production.
How do you identify a Chilkat design?
Oriented with its head at the bottom of the blanket, its blowhole and body represented by the face in the center of the blanket, and the tail by two flippers, the design is best-spotted if one is familiar enough with Chilkat art to be able to identify the designs which are and are not formlines. The blanket's weaver, Maggie Kadanaha.
Where did the Chilkat blankets come from?
What is a chilkat blanket?
What tribes were weaving blankets?
Why are blankets called crest animals?
What is the meaning of the Tlingit blanket?
See 2 more
About this website
What cultural region did the Chilkat blanket come from?
By this time, the distinct blankets were christened as “Chilkat Blankets” by white traders due to the preponderance of these dancing blankets materializing from the Tlingit tribe of the Chilkat located near Klukwan, Alaska.
What was the Chilkat blanket made of?
mountain goat woolThe blankets are finger-woven using strips of cedar bark wrapped in yarn made from mountain goat wool, as the warp (vertical strands), and dyed mountain goat wool, as the weft (horizontal strands).
What were Chilkat blankets used for?
ceremonial robesThe blankets were used as ceremonial robes worn on special occasions such as a potlatch where they might be presented to honored guests; in dancing; surrounding a body while it lay in state; or occassionally hung on the outside of a grave house as a token of esteem.
What does Chilkat mean in Tlingit?
History and Etymology for Chilkat probably from Tlingit tcĭł-xāt, literally, storehouses for salmon.
How big is the Chilkat blanket?
Chilkat blanket attributed to Mary Ebbetts Hunt (Anisalaga), 1823-1919, Fort Rupert, British Columbia. Height: 117 cm. (46 in.)
What is a Chilkat robe?
These robes, sometimes called dancing blankets, were created by women using extremely complex twining techniques that enabled them to produce the curvilinear shapes forming the composition. The designs, woven in mountain goat wool and shredded cedar bark, copied painted images on wooden pattern boards produced by men.
What is Tlingit tribe?
The Tlingit (/ˈklɪŋkɪt/ or /ˈtlɪŋɡɪt/; also spelled Tlinkit; Russian: Тлинкиты) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively Lingít, pronounced [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]), in which the name means 'People of the Tides'.
What kind of artifact is Chilkat blanket?
Chilkat blankets are prestige objects worn over the shoulder by men and women during dances and ceremonies on the Northwest Coast. Designs spun in cedar bark and Mountain Goat wool represent the crest of the owner, which usually incorporates motifs symbolizing eyes and feathers.
What is Tlingit tribe?
The Tlingit (/ˈklɪŋkɪt/ or /ˈtlɪŋɡɪt/; also spelled Tlinkit; Russian: Тлинкиты) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively Lingít, pronounced [ɬɪ̀nkɪ́tʰ]), in which the name means 'People of the Tides'.
Chilkat weaving - Wikipedia
The name derives from the Tlingit people of the Chilkat (Jilkháat) region near Klukwan, Alaska on the Chilkat River.The Nisga'a 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, shirts, vests, bags, hats, and wall-hangings.
Who modeled the Chilkat blanket?
Master Weaver Jennie Thlunaut’s last Chilkat Blanket modeled by her daughter Agnes Bellinger ,copyright1985, Marilyn Holmes. The Chilkat dance apron was one of the earliest products of the loom.
Where did the chilkat blanket originate?
The art of Chilkat Blanket weaving originated with the Tsimshian people (near Wrangell) but later spread to the Tlingits through trade and marriage. The Chilkat Tlingits (near Haines) who developed their own design style became the best and most copious weavers.
How much was the Chilkat blanket worth in 1800?
In trade, it was rivaled only by caribou hides and copper until guns were brought into the country. In the mid 1800s their value was about $30 – a large sum at that time.
How were blankets made?
The blanket was woven on a “warp weight” or “single bar” loom, a simple loom consisting of two standing poles and a cross bar. The warp threads, suspended from a strip of moose hide, were hung from the cross bar. The long ends of the thread were tied into bundles, sometimes weighted with stones, to give tension to the working portion of the yarn. The weaver usually sat or kneeled in front of the loom while weaving. The blankets were woven entirely with the fingers. No other device was used. The finger-weaving was called twining. Two or more wefts were twisted around a single warp of yarn. When the blanket was completed, the fringe was filled out by adding extra lengths of warp yarn and braided borders were added.
What was the first product of the Chilkat loom?
The Chilkat dance apron was one of the earliest products of the loom. Also made were ceremonial blankets, tunics, leggings and small pouches and purses. The blankets were used as ceremonial robes worn on special occasions such as a potlatch where they might be presented to honored guests; in dancing; surrounding a body while it lay in state; or occassionally hung on the outside of a grave house as a token of esteem.
How many blankets did Cynthia Jones make?
She made over 33 blankets and 6 tunics during her 96-year life span. In 1984, she conducted a two-week workshop in Haines to pass on the art of blanket weaving. Throughout the 1990s and to the present (2012), a few serious weavers have continued the tradition. Cynthia Jones 1987.
What were the eyes used for in the blanket?
Eyes were often used as space fillers. The men designed the pattern and painted the abstract figures on a wooden “pattern board.”. As the blanket was bilateral, only half the pattern was painted in life-size dimensions.
Who made the chilkat apron?
Beginning of a Chilkat apron, 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.
What is a chilkat?
Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest Coast peoples of Alaska and British Columbia. Chilkat blankets are worn by high-ranking tribal members on civic or ceremonial occasions, including dances.
Where did the name "Anotklosh" come from?
1913. The name derives from the Tlingit people of the Chilkat (Jilkháat) region near Klukwan, Alaska on the Chilkat River . The Nisga'a are reputed to have invented the technique, according to some Tlingit weavers, though this is not attested in Tsimshian sources.
Who was Jennie Thlunaut?
Kaagwaantaan Clan, Ghooch Hít woman 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.
What is a chilkat blanket made of?
Blanket with a Bark Weft. This Chilkat blanket was made from mountain goat wool spun over a cord of cedar-bark string. According to indigenous traditions and weather permitting, the materials were always harvested in the Spring.
How long does it take to make a chilkat blanket?
Despite being made for sale, the blankets are immensely difficult and time-consuming to create. A single blanket may take up to two years of periodic work to complete. The result is that not many Chilkat blankets were produced, even at the height of production.
Where did the Chilkat Tlingit live?
At the turn of the 20 th Century the Chilkat Tlingit lived along the painfully stark and beautiful riverbeds of the similarly named Alaskan Chilkat River. Less than fifty years prior the state had been purchased from Russia in what is now considered the wisest folly related to U.S. land acquisition. Small outposts and forts dotted the Alaskan coast, mostly stops on the pilgrimage gold-minded miners took to get to the Klondike. Right around when the state was purchased, the Chilkat Tlingit had begun to weave incredibly intricate blankets from a cedar bark weft and wool. Originally worn at feasts and other prestigious occasions, weavers began to make Chilkat blankets to sell at these outposts. This post explores one such Chilkat blanket in the Bowers Museum’s collections, looking at the history, craft, and provenance of the blanket.
Where was the Kadanaha blanket made?
A letter from the previous owner notes that it was woven and purchased directly from Maggie Kadanaha, a well-establish Chilkat weaver, at Fort Seward, Alaska in 1912. The blanket was traded for $50.00 and one of the donor’s finest dresses, a story that resonates with the provenance records of Kadanaha blankets in other museum collections.
What is a potlatch?
Potlatch is a large celebration which often traditionally took more than a year to plan and fund. The gathering traditionally took place for a milestone event, such as a marriage, birth, death, or coming of age festivity.
Who were the original weavers?
The original weavers were also a small community of women of the Chilkat tribe and much of the original process was lost with their passing in the mid 20 th Century. A Chilkat weaver working on a blanket. Taken from Alaska Days with John Muir by Samuel Hall Young.
Why are potlatch hung on graves?
These were also used as regalia during ceremonies, worn on special occasions such as potlatch, where they might be presented to guests of honor; in dancing; or occasionally hung on the outside of a grave house to pay honor towards a newly deceased chief or person of high rank in Chilkat Tlingit society.
Where did the Chilkat blankets come from?
By this time, the distinct blankets were christened as “Chilkat Blankets” by white traders due to the preponderance of these dancing blankets materializing from the Tlingit tribe of the Chilkat located near Klukwan, Alaska. The Tlingit traditionally referred to the blanket as Naaxiin (interpreted as “fringe about the body”) and ...
What is a chilkat blanket?
Unlike the way by which many of us encounter the Chilkat blanket today—spread flat and hanging in a museum case, the Chilkat blanket was conceived to be a royal object in motion: the fringe swirls and sways as the wearer— with the blanket draped over his or her shoulders much akin to a shawl—dances, dipping and turning to a drum beat (see a photograph of one in motion here ).
What tribes were weaving blankets?
By the mid- to late-1820s, the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsmshian tribes (see map here of geographical distribution of cultural groups) were weaving what is now referred to as the “classic” Chilkat blanket style, discernible by the sophisticated almost-cubist design principle in which a crest animal or creature (which visually communicated the original wearer’s house or clan identity) is dissected into a multitude of abstracted and flat (non-three dimensional) body facets and spread out amongst the design field in dizzying complexity so as no space is left uncovered.
Why are blankets called crest animals?
The Tsimshian lore accounting for the blanket’s origin symbolically discloses why a crest animal was the chosen subject of depiction: “In mythical times—when animals were still men, wearing the animal skins as blankets…Their coats of fur were mere protective coverings to be removed at will, and they often appeared in human form.” **
What is the meaning of the Tlingit blanket?
The Tlingit traditionally referred to the blanket as Naaxiin (interpreted as “fringe about the body”) and the Tsimshian as Gwis-halait (interpreted as “dancing blanket”).