Ravenstail weaving

File:Teri Rofkar 2016.jpg with a Ravenstail ceremonial blanket robe she wove.]]

Ravenstail weaving (yéil koowú),{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Mary B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onZ9AwAAQBAJ |title=Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia |date=2014-05-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-63861-0 |pages=1771 |language=en}} also known as Raven's Tail weaving, is a traditional form of geometric weaving-style practiced by Northwest Coast peoples.{{Cite news |last=Neyman |first=Jenny |date=March 19, 2016 |title=Revival of Ravenstail weaving style in good hands |work=KTOO Public Media |url=https://www.ktoo.org/2016/03/19/revival-of-ravenstail-weaving-style-in-good-hands/}}

History

The practice of Ravenstail and Chilkat weaving originated among the Tsimshian, and was retained by traditional Tlingit and Haida weavers in present-day Alaska.{{Cite web |last=Soulé |first=Barbara |date=2018-06-29 |title=Weaving a New Narrative - the Interwoven Radiance Exhibition is Celebrated |url=https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org/weaving-a-new-narrative-the-interwoven-radiance-exhibit-in-portland-is-celebrated |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Native Arts and Cultures Foundation |language=en-US}} Ravenstail weaving is thought to be a precursor to Chilkat weaving. Ravenstail weaving has sharp, geometric lines and minimal colors; while Chilkat weaving visually looks more natural with curved lines and a larger color palette.

Ravenstail uses a finger-weaving technique called 'twining'.{{Cite book |last1=Valaskakis |first1=Gail Guthrie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80pWAgAAQBAJ |title=Restoring the Balance: First Nations Women, Community, and Culture |last2=Guimond |first2=Eric |last3=Stout |first3=Madeleine Dion |date=2011-07-15 |publisher=Univ. of Manitoba Press |isbn=978-0-88755-412-4 |pages=272, 324 |language=en}} Typically, for Ravenstail pieces, it is created in modern times using black and white (and sometimes yellow) colored merino sheep-wool{{Cite web |last=OpenLibrary.org |title=The raven's tail (1987 edition) {{!}} Open Library |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4696692W/The_raven's_tail |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Open Library |language=en}} (sometimes with the traditional slender strands of animal sinew or, a more modern substitute, small amounts of silk){{Cite web |last=OpenLibrary.org |title=The raven's tail (1987 edition) {{!}} Open Library |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4696692W/The_raven's_tail |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Open Library |language=en}} or, when legally available and affordable to the weaver, the original traditional fiber, yarn made from wild mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) wool,{{Cite web |last=OpenLibrary.org |title=The raven's tail (1987 edition) {{!}} Open Library |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL4696692W/The_raven's_tail |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Open Library |language=en}} to create bold geometric woven patterns. The early examples, ones made before first contact with foreign explorers and traders who introduced sheep's wool to the continent, were constructed from mountain goat-wool yarn.{{Cite book |last=Holm |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5_TCwAAQBAJ |title=Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form, 50th Anniversary Edition |date=2017-01-03 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-99950-0 |pages=XVII |language=en |author-link=Bill Holm (art historian)}} There are not many surviving historical examples, with roughly a dozen Ravenstail robes in North American and European museums.{{Cite web |last=Segall |first=Peter |date=2021-09-21 |title=Book celebrates historic Ravenstail robe exhibit at state museum |url=https://www.juneauempire.com/news/book-celebrates-end-of-historic-ravenstail-robe-exhibit-at-state-museum/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Juneau Empire |language=en-US}}

Revival

After the 1800s, Ravenstail died out of popularity and due to the rise of new weaving innovations and techniques.{{Cite web |title=Oldest known Native robes return to Alaska for The Spirit Wraps You exhibit at Alaska State Museum |url=https://education.alaska.gov/information-exchange-blog/deed-spotlight-the-spirit-wraps-around-you#:~:text=Ravenstail%20robes%20are%20made%20of,weavers%20to%20create%20curved%20stitching. |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Alaska Department of Education & Early Development}} The Ravenstail weaving technique almost went extinct after 200 years of inactivity.{{Cite book |last=Meuli |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Z5lAgAAQBAJ |title=Shadow House: Interpretations of Northwest Coast Art |date=2013-12-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-43465-7 |pages=391 |language=en}}

Cheryl Samuel was the first person to replicate Ravenstail weaving for revival purposes, and by the mid-1980s she had obtained permission from several Pacific Northwest indigenous tribes to revive the art to regularly teach classes on the subject. In 1987, Samuel published a book The Raven's Tail: Northern Geometric Style Weaving (University of British Columbia Press). In the 1990s additional research was done to bring back the traditional craft; and museums and cultural centers in the Alaskan cities of Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka struggled together to revive the craft by working with both Natives and non-Natives. In November 1990, a Ravenstail Weaver's Guild was formed in Ketchikan through the Totem Heritage Center, and served to strengthen craft community between Native and non-Natives in the United States and Canada.

In 2021 the exhibition The Spirit Wraps Around You: Northern Northwest Coast Native Textiles, was held at the Alaska State Museum and included Ravenstail weaving while highlighted the oldest known weavings from Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.{{Cite web |last=McBride |first=Rhonda |date=2021-05-03 |title="The Spirit Wraps Around You" at the Alaska State Museum |url=http://www.ktoo.org/2021/05/03/monday-may-3rd-the-spirit-wraps-around-you-at-the-alaska-state-museum-juneau-economic-development-association-juneau-weather-trends/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=KTOO |language=en-US}}

Notable weavers

Delores Churchill (Haida){{Cite book |last1=Haakanson |first1=Sven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOF_DQAAQBAJ |title=Creative Alaska: A Ten-Year Retrospective of Support for Alaska Artists, 2004-2013 |last2=Steffian |first2=Amy |date=2016-11-07 |publisher=University of Alaska Press |isbn=978-1-60223-285-3 |pages=16 |language=en}}
Lily Hope (Tlingit){{Cite web |title=Lily Hope: Tlingit Weaver of Chilkat and Ravenstail |url=https://handwovenmagazine.com/lily-hope-tlingit-weaver-of-chilkat-and-ravenstail/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Handwoven |language=en}}
Lani Hotch (Tlingit){{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Libraries, Archives, Museums: The Spirit Wraps Around You: Northern Northwest Coast Native Textiles: Home |url=https://lam.alaska.gov/c.php?g=1184230&p=8661468 |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=lam.alaska.gov |language=en}}
Marie Oldfield (Tsimshian)
Clarissa Rizal (Tlingit){{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Scott |date=2016-12-08 |title=Respected Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver Clarissa Rizal dies at 60 |url=https://www.ktoo.org/2016/12/07/respected-chilkat-and-ravenstail-weaver-clarissa-rizal-dies-at-60/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=KTOO |language=en-US}}
Teri Rofkar (Tlingit)
Cheryl Samuel (non-Native), the first person to replicate the technique during the revival period.
Ann Smith (Tlingit/Tutchone)
Evelyn Vanderhoop (Haida){{Cite book |last1=Bunn-Marcuse |first1=Kathryn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAroDwAAQBAJ |title=Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast |last2=Jonaitis |first2=Aldona |date=2020-05-29 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-74714-9 |pages=244 |language=en}}

Ravenstail weaving

History

Revival

Notable weavers

See also

References

Further reading