Ceremony marks aboriginal weaving’s rebirth
Janice George & Buddy Joseph: 604.990.4155 (h); 604.329.5733 (c)
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3219
B.C. Lt.-Gov. Steven Point will be among the dignitaries at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus Mar. 27 when artists from the Squamish L'hen Awtxw Weaving House unveil the traditional blankets they created for the university’s new Aboriginal Gathering Place.
The public “welcoming of blankets” ceremony, beginning 1:30 p.m. in the atrium of the university’s new Arts and Social Sciences Complex, marks a significant milestone in the remarkable rebirth of an ancient aboriginal tradition.
For centuries, Coast Salish artists wove exquisite wool blankets, robes, tunics and other items their people used and traded with other aboriginal nations to be used for spiritual, ceremonial and political occasions.
But traditional weaving suffered after colonization and had almost disappeared in the Squamish Nation until hereditary chief Janice George and her husband Buddy Joseph sparked a major revival about six years ago.
Today, thanks to their efforts, more than 120 weavers are working in their community and beyond, hundreds more are learning the craft, and countless future students will be able to access lessons on DVD and the Internet.
The couple’s protégés fabricated the intricate wall hangings commissioned by SFU using their designs based on oral and written histories of Burnaby Mountain.
Their passion for historical weaving began in 2003 when George tried to buy a traditional woven tunic at a First Nations gathering in Washington State and the weaver offered to teach her the craft for the same price. “That was our defining moment,” recalls Joseph, “and the rest is history.”
For Joseph, the rebirth of weaving in part represents following in the footsteps of his late father, who helped to rekindle the vanishing art of West Coast aboriginal woodcarving in the mid-1960s. Today, collectors around the world prize Haida and Coast Salish sculptures.
For George, the revival is a spiritual tribute to her ancestors, particularly her grandmother. “It’s hard to explain what this revival means to our people,” she says.
“The elders cried when they saw it was back in our community, they were so happy. And my grandmother said she always hoped and dreamed it would come back.”