August 20, 2013

Laxgalts’ap, BC — On Wednesday, August 21, between the hours of 9:30 am and 4:30 pm the Nisga’a Museum will host two master weavers in its orientation gallery. Vanessa Morgan and Crystal Rogers will set up their loom and weave a traditional Nisga’a Gwiis Halayt or “Chilkat” blanket as they have become known today. While they are weaving visitors to the museum will be able to learn about the ancient traditions associated with this type of weaving, understand how this sort of weaving was appropriated by other First Nations communities, and discover the evolution of weaving, as a cultural practice, within Nisga’a Nation.

Vanessa Morgan (Wiit Gidaaw) is Ganada(Frog) of Wilps Hymaas. Daughter of George and Norma Morgan of the villages of Gingolx/Gitwinsihlkw. “Since I was a young lady, I have been interested in weaving. This was when I first saw my great- grandfather the late Charlie Barton dressed in a Gwiis Halyt blanket in an old black and white photo. This ancient traditional weave belongs to the Nisga'a Nation; it may have been lost amongst our nation, but not forgotten. Many of our blankets were taken by collectors and put in museums; many of the blankets were burned as well as our looms. The Tlingit people were given a Killerwhale apron that was made by Nisga’a women that was married to a Tlingit man. When he died the apron was sent to his family. The Tlingit women took apart the apron and studied it and wove it back together again. Presently there are women in other nations learning the Gwiis Halyt weaving, I believe that it is about time the Gwiis Halyt is brought back 'Home' to the Nisga'a Nation. I have been weaving now for 10 years, my dream is to see a lot of our Nisga'a women weaving the Gwiis Halyt, and our Sim'oogits dressed in their Wilps Gwiis Halyt blankets during feasts and other important functions”, says Morgan.

The Chilkat blanket has become synonymous with the Tlingit Nation of north-western British Columbia. Throughout history First Nation’s of the north-west region have traded with one another. The exchange of goods such as fish, baskets, and oolichan grease coincided with the trade of technology and knowledge including traditional arts and crafts techniques. The traditional Nisga’a Gwiis Halayt was made of mountain goat wool spun over a core of cedar-bark string.  Historically, men hunted the goat, constructed the frame on which the weaving was done and painted the design board from which the women, who did the weaving, took the design and developed the blanket for a chief. The design of the blanket often represents an animal or ayukws (crest) of a Nisga’a wilp or house. Often the construction of a blanket would take one year to complete.

“This unique, one-day demonstration provides the Nisga’a Museum with a way to connect the past with the present,” notes museum director Darrin Martens. “The museum has only one Gwiis Halayt dating back to the early 20^th Century. Once part of Charles Newcombe’s collection, this blanket was originally purchased, we believe, from a chief who lived in the ancient village of Anki’daa along the Nass River. It subsequently made its way into the collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum and was repatriated to Nisga’a territory in 2000. This program will allow us and the community at large to learn more about weaving techniques, how they connect us with the past and illustrate the importance of objects like this within the Nisga’a Museum collection.”