Vanessa Morgan Learns Chilkat

Jul 22, 2012 | Class Act, Honoring Others | 0 comments

Vanessa begins weaving the eyebrows of her Chilkat leggings

Vanessa Morgan and I have been trying to coordinate a Summer for her return to complete her Chilkat leggings.  Finally, our schedules coincided  almost 7 years later!

When she needs a break from weaving Vanessa spins warp for the other project she wants to begin weaving during this apprenticeship: a child-size Chilkat robe

Vanessa is Ganada (Frog) Clan from Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City)/Gingolx (Kincolith) on the Nass River in British Columbia, Canada.  She is from the original tribe of the Nass, the Nishga’a (meaning “mighty people of the Nass”).  Chilkat weaving originated on the Nass and was retained by the Tlingit in the Chilkat Valley.  It is most fitting the two of us work together to help return the Chilkat weaving back to the Nishga’a of the Nass River.

Setting in the braids to begin weaving the bridge of the nose

Vanessa has a retail shop offering clothing and other items adorned with Northwest Coast Native designs.  The first day she walked into my studio, she claimed she is going to convert her space into a weaving studio AND a weaver’s supply and equipment outlet.  I haven’t met anyone else who is determined to create a physical and online store supplying weavers of the Northwest Coast with necessary equipment and supplies; we are excited about this!   We are both working on creating an outlet, hers will be in the “South” (B.C. area down to Washington State) and mine will be in the “North” serving Southeast Alaska and Yukon.  Stay tuned for the “openings” of both the North and South wings of the “Northwest Coast Indigenous Weaving Shop.”

The weaving room…Clarissa’s leggings are on her loom to the left; one is on a separate heading bar on the backside of the loom, the other is on the front as shown…Clarissa demonstrates on her leggings to avoid demonstrating on Vanessa’s  which means there is no ripping back the demonstration….see?  see?

Using the Chilkat weaving warp stick, fashioned after the late master weaver, Jennie Thlunaut, Vanessa measures the last few strands of warp

There is nothing like weaving a Chlkat robe.  The ancestral ties are strong.  The “veil between the worlds” is thin.  For many of us indigenous weavers, the feeling is a spiritual communion with all the weavers of the past, present and even the future as all time seems to meld into one.

The process of hanging the warp on your loom is called “dressing the loom”

Some may wonder why I would start a beginner apprentice on a Chlkat robe?   Why not?  In my book, this is my thinking:  An apprentice is a person who is dedicated to”remembering” that which is already in her; someone who already knows what she wants and is determined to do and be the things that is required of  a true weaver; she  is willing to carry on this tradition for the well-being of herself, family and community.  So what if the beginning of the robe the weaving shows her incompetent, imperfect talent?   We have to start somewhere.  Vanessa will learn everything there is to learn about weaving a Chilkat robe.  And best yet, weaving the width of the top border of the robe enables the beginner weaver to get in the groove and rhythm of the weft yarns flowing through the warp  to achieve Jennie’s unique fingering technique – like Jennie said “…you get my fingering, you get 1/2 of your work licked!”

Vanessa spent the first day dressing her loom and weaving the first few rows of white – she spent the entire second day weaving her black border – the definition of a day is about 10-16 hours

Stay tuned for Vanessa’s progress on her leggings and her Chilkat robe.