The Wrangell sentinel., 1928-03-29
THLINGET WOMEN HAVE
DISTINCTIVE HANDIW0RK

A recent number Of the VerstoYi-
an. the school paper Of the Sheldon
jackson school contained the fol
lowing article written by Margaret
Shakes Of Wrangell. nov a pupil IN
the eighth grade at Sheldon Jack
son:
Women of all times and races have
had an important work i'm the field
of arts and crafts. Different peoples
are known for the distinctive type
Of handiWork of its women With
some, it is weaving. with others the
growing Of flowers designing. nee
dlewOrk. fine embroidery or pottery
The arts and crafts Of the native
women Of southeastern Alaska have
always been prominent as an oecu-
patton or as a source of pleasure. In
the earlier life of our people, all
work of an artistic nature was made
TO be used within the family. either
for utility or for ornamentation. but
later years have brought many
changes. Tourist trade has given to
all kinds of handiwork an economic
value
As a result. the thought upper
most in the mind of the women is TO
produce an article that will be pleas
ing to the prospective customer. and
that will bring the highest price.
Today the various arts are engaged
in mostly by the older Thlinget wo-
men. and when they have passed
away, their arts will be lost to the
al
ton have more opportunities To earn
money than their mothers and they
take little or no interest in the arts
tie accomplishments of their ances-
tors
The early arts of women consisted
and the curing and tanning of skins.
Her most important occupation has
always been working skins, and in
this she has developed a great deal
of skill. ingenuity. and art
Only men took part in the hunt
The game which they brought home
was turned over to the women to be
cured, tanned and then made into
many articles of use.
Blankets were made from the
skins of many animals. the otter, go
pher beaver and goat Duck skins
We pfized for coats and blankets.
as they shed the water better than
other skins. At the present time the
skins of many deer. moose and hair
seals are made into moccasins. nit
tens and bags.
In former times there was the Gus
tom of weaving the long hair of
mountain goats into cloaks and
MI h. q
wooden blankets and manufactured
clothing, this art has been neglected
until now it is almost lost.
The Chilkat blanket is woven from
the wool of the mountain goat. The
making of single blanket REQUIRES
many months of time, great skill, |
and patience. First, the wool must
be carded. the yarn made and dyed
and then there comes months of te-
dtous work in weaving. The pattern
may differ but it is always totemic.
On the best blankets it is the head of
a trout. The weaving is done in ae-
cord with a pattern board that bears
the design of the family. The weay-
er never varies the pattern board or
the design.
A story is told that the first blan-
ket of this kind had its origin in the
dream of TsimDsean girl, who later
made the blanket as she saw it in her
dream. The making of this style of
blanket was not followed by the
Tsimpsean people, and they long ago
lost the art of making it. A great
many years later it was revived by
the Chilkat tribe White men gave
the blanket its name, because it is
made very extensively by the Chflkat
people.
Thlinget women's embroidery or
fancy work has passed through sew
eral stages of life. Originally, only
on fringe was ornamentation ap-
piled Then there came the use of
eagle feathers. This in time was fol-
lowed by form of embroidery.
called quill work, in which women
became very skilled. With the use
of the dyed quill of the porcupine
she developed an art very unique.
Quill work was later replaced by
thread embroidery, then by a kind
of fancy work called "cut-out." Pat
terms were cut out from bright-color-
ed cloth and outlined with pearl but
tons. AT the present time beadwork
is the most common usage for trim
ming. Bright colored trade beads
are used, also seeds, berries and shell
beads. Long ago all designs were
totemic, but now they are taken from
fashion plates, wall paper and other
modern sources.
OF the several arts and industries
of the Thlinget women, basketry is
the most highly developed and the
most extensive. The first baskets
with designs, of which we have rec
ord, were made by Yakutat people.
Baskets were originally made for
utility. They served as water pals,
cooking utensils, for berry picking
and for great number of other pur
poses. OF later years basketry has
become greatly commercialized. Yet
this has not affected the artistic val
lie of baskets. for this is the only art
that has been influenced by ciyiliza-