The Chilkat Dancing Blanket
Cheryl Samuel,weaver and teacher of weaving and art, was introduced by Bill Holm to the weaving of the Chilkat Indian women. Her involvement in this beautiful form of weaving has grown from an initial technical curiosity, through practical and academic research, to the present day, which finds her weaving on commission for art collectors and for native artists who wish to own and dance in this stunning traditional dress. In 1980 she received a grant from the National Museums of Canada to travel to the major ethnographic collections of North America, Europe, and Russia. During this trip, her knowledge of the weaving techniques crystallized through careful study of many of the finest of old Dancing Blankets. Most recently, Cheryl Samuel was invited to display her Chilkat weaving at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.Cheryl Samuel teaches at Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, Victoria, British Columbia, where she served for some years as Director of Fine Arts. She lives in Victoria with her husband and their three children.