Post by blackcrowheart on Apr 12, 2007 11:01:27 GMT -5
Blanket brings "sacred change"
1-28-2007
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter
OLYMPIA — With prayer and song, tribal members from around the region
Saturday named and blessed the first known hand-twined mountain-goat-hair blanket
made in Puget Sound country in generations.
The art was retained by a few master weavers, including the late Bruce
Miller, a Skokomish spiritual leader known as subiyay, who passed the art on to
his apprentice, Susan Pavel. Pavel, who made the blanket, brought it out in a
joyous ceremony at the longhouse at The Evergreen State College. The
one-of-a-kind blanket will hang in the new addition of the Seattle Art Museum, which
is scheduled to open in May.
"A blanket like this made from mountain-goat hair probably has not been made
in 100 years," said Barbara Brotherton, curator of Native American Art at the
Seattle Art Museum. "She is bringing back a most ancient style of weaving."
The blanket's Indian name, which means Sacred Change for Each Other, is as
much a mission as a name, said Delbert Miller, a spiritual leader of the
Skokomish people. "It is a sacred change for everyone, from a people that nearly
lost everything, to a people that is coming together."
The blanket is a triumph of an ongoing quiet renaissance in Coast Salish
weaving carried on by Indian and non-Indian weavers from Vancouver Island to
Puget Sound and the Washington coast. "One of the great acts of survival is to
adapt Salish weaving that had waned for quite a period of time," said Michael
Pavel, Susan's husband and Miller's nephew. Michael Pavel spent 12 years
gathering the wool for the blanket, tuft by tuft. It took Susan Pavel about six
months to weave it.
"Our culture was essentially dismembered; our elders and leaders had been
decimated by a variety of diseases and the ill effects of the introduction of
modern society," Michael Pavel said.
"The people's understanding of the blankets was still there, they carried the
prayers of the people, they kept the people warm.
"Uncle was adamant; he said we are weavers of blankets. Susan really took it
on, and understood that, and it was the beginning of a great renaissance.
It's just one more attempt to retain our greatness through the aboriginal and
indigenous aspects of our culture. This is part of our generation's effort to
reclaim our identity."
The blanket was presented in a procession of weavers from the region, each
wearing woolen vests, dresses and other regalia they wove themselves.
"It's something I never thought I would see in my lifetime," said Susan
Pavel, who, as a weaving teacher, had hoped to attend an event at which people
wore regalia they had woven.
After the procession, the blanket was wrapped around honored elders, one at a
time, amid song and prayer. "I feel like I'm in heaven," said Fran James,
83, a Lummi master weaver and one of the elders honored with wearing the thick,
soft blanket. At about 15 pounds, the blanket was so heavy James and other
elders wore it seated. "It has so much energy, you could feel it has so much
meaning," James said.
Lynda V. Mapes 206-464-2736 _lmapes@seattletimes.com
1-28-2007
By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter
OLYMPIA — With prayer and song, tribal members from around the region
Saturday named and blessed the first known hand-twined mountain-goat-hair blanket
made in Puget Sound country in generations.
The art was retained by a few master weavers, including the late Bruce
Miller, a Skokomish spiritual leader known as subiyay, who passed the art on to
his apprentice, Susan Pavel. Pavel, who made the blanket, brought it out in a
joyous ceremony at the longhouse at The Evergreen State College. The
one-of-a-kind blanket will hang in the new addition of the Seattle Art Museum, which
is scheduled to open in May.
"A blanket like this made from mountain-goat hair probably has not been made
in 100 years," said Barbara Brotherton, curator of Native American Art at the
Seattle Art Museum. "She is bringing back a most ancient style of weaving."
The blanket's Indian name, which means Sacred Change for Each Other, is as
much a mission as a name, said Delbert Miller, a spiritual leader of the
Skokomish people. "It is a sacred change for everyone, from a people that nearly
lost everything, to a people that is coming together."
The blanket is a triumph of an ongoing quiet renaissance in Coast Salish
weaving carried on by Indian and non-Indian weavers from Vancouver Island to
Puget Sound and the Washington coast. "One of the great acts of survival is to
adapt Salish weaving that had waned for quite a period of time," said Michael
Pavel, Susan's husband and Miller's nephew. Michael Pavel spent 12 years
gathering the wool for the blanket, tuft by tuft. It took Susan Pavel about six
months to weave it.
"Our culture was essentially dismembered; our elders and leaders had been
decimated by a variety of diseases and the ill effects of the introduction of
modern society," Michael Pavel said.
"The people's understanding of the blankets was still there, they carried the
prayers of the people, they kept the people warm.
"Uncle was adamant; he said we are weavers of blankets. Susan really took it
on, and understood that, and it was the beginning of a great renaissance.
It's just one more attempt to retain our greatness through the aboriginal and
indigenous aspects of our culture. This is part of our generation's effort to
reclaim our identity."
The blanket was presented in a procession of weavers from the region, each
wearing woolen vests, dresses and other regalia they wove themselves.
"It's something I never thought I would see in my lifetime," said Susan
Pavel, who, as a weaving teacher, had hoped to attend an event at which people
wore regalia they had woven.
After the procession, the blanket was wrapped around honored elders, one at a
time, amid song and prayer. "I feel like I'm in heaven," said Fran James,
83, a Lummi master weaver and one of the elders honored with wearing the thick,
soft blanket. At about 15 pounds, the blanket was so heavy James and other
elders wore it seated. "It has so much energy, you could feel it has so much
meaning," James said.
Lynda V. Mapes 206-464-2736 _lmapes@seattletimes.com