Preservation
Traditionally, the practice of weaving in the Northwest Coast tribes was the responsibility of the women of the tribe (Prints and Patterns 2003). Chilkat weaving is a precise, labor-intensive endeavor that requires skill, patience, and experience. Though the practice was sometimes passed down from mother to daughter, more often, the older women of the tribe would take on younger women, essentially as apprentices, to teach them the weaving. The practice was more often passed down among the women of the tribe, than in the family unit.
As native nations were lost to colonization, the practice of chilkat weaving was almost lost. As generations passed, interest in traditional practices lessened, but still continue as new generations continue, rediscover, and revive chilkat weaving. The practice is still passed down in the tribal setting, but in a much smaller scale.
Clarissa Hudson, raised in Alaska learning new art forms as she came across them, returned to Alaska later in her life to apprentice with Jennie Thlunaut, a renowned Chilkat weaver. Under Thlunaut, Hudson learned the traditional practices of Chilkat weaving, which she continued to use, and as of 2002, had woven over 40 traditional ceremonial robes.
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Hudson continued to weave traditional Chilkat blankets and robes, but also put her own spin on the designs, adding more contemporary designs and pictures (Brewer 2002). This type of preservation not only continues the traditional practices and styles, but also documents the ever-changing and adapting folklore of the ever-changing world.
(Tutter 2019)
(Tutter 2019)