“Revitalizing Tsimshian Weaving Through Community Collaboration”
**Weaving in a Good Way: The Reawakening of Tsimshian Chilkat Blanket Crafting**
For over a century, the ceremonial craft of Chilkat blanket weaving by the Tsimshian people lay dormant—a tradition paused by colonial restraints, cultural shifts, and a necessary prioritization of language and family preservation. Yet today, a profound reawakening is underway. This is not just the revival of a craft, but the rekindling of relationships, language, and heritage that stitches together the past, present, and future of the Tsimshian people.
### A Legacy Interrupted
The Chilkat blanket, a ceremonial textile rich in meaning and intricate in design, has long been emblematic of the Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest. Using mountain goat wool and cedar bark, weavers create intricate patterns representing clan crests, community stories, and cosmic connections. While the Tlingit and Haida nations maintained this tradition through generations, for the Tsimshian people, this ceremonial practice was abandoned in 1887 during a period of great upheaval.
As Teedsa, a Tsimshian elder, recalls, the choice to forgo these ceremonial practices was not made lightly. Spurred by cultural pressures, colonial laws, and the need to maintain their Sm’algyax language and family structures in the face of encroaching settler influence, Tsimshian leaders prioritized survival. For those who relocated to Metlakatla, Alaska, and those who remained in British Columbia, the ceremonial arts—alongside other traditional practices—were released to adapt to the changing world.
In the absence of Tsimshian weavers, the Chilkat blanket tradition became almost synonymous with the Tlingit and Haida artists who safeguarded it through deep respect, often practicing in secret despite the risk of colonial penalties. Tsimshian artifacts, including Chilkat blankets, found their way to museums and collectors around the world. Now labeled as historical relics, these intricate pieces seemed frozen in time, their techniques known only to a handful of master weavers outside the Tsimshian community.
### A Dream Rekindled
Ruth, from the fourth generation of Tsimshian people descended from those who migrated to the U.S. in the 1880s, grew up hundreds of miles from the traditional lands. Her exposure to Tsimshian artistry was limited to family heirlooms, such as a hand-drawn image of her great-grandfather wrapped in a Chilkat blanket. For years, this image was part of a dream—a path she would imagine but not yet walk. Like many urban Tsimshian descendants, Ruth did not have access to training, language, or cultural knowledge that tied her to her ancestral roots.
Her journey began with an online language class in Sm’algyax during the pandemic in 2020. There, she met Shu Gayna (Donna May Roberts), who served as both a teacher and guide. Conversations in their true language allowed Ruth to connect with centuries-old philosophies and worldviews. These exchanges also illuminated a profound truth: the restoration of Chilkat weaving required far more than technical skill—it depended on relationships, respect, and reciprocal learning.
### Learning the Threads of Heritage
As Ruth’s research continued, it became clear that Chilkat weaving carries a deep philosophical weight. Guided by her teacher, she delved into the principles of simultaneity and interconnection embedded in Sm’algyax, the Tsimshian language. In Sm’algyax, relationships are integral to conveying meaning; verbs, nouns, and even articles conjugate to express connections between people, nature, and the cosmos.
Chilkat weaving reflects these values. Each warp thread, weft thread, and design element contributes to and is shaped by the whole. This mirrors the Tsimshian understanding of balance and reciprocity in relationships. Learning to weave, Ruth realized, meant first learning to exist “in a good way”—in harmonious relationship with oneself, one’s ancestors, and one’s community.
Her explorations took her to historical archives, interviews with Tlingit and Haida master weavers, and workshops in Alaska and British Columbia. She spoke with the few remaining Sm’algyax-speaking elders, peered into the past through stories of heritage chiefs, and studied the works of Willie White, the first Tsimshian to revive Chilkat weaving in Canada since the 19th century.
### Reviving Practice and Protocol
Weaving Chilkat blankets is more than an artistic endeavor; it involves navigating questions of ownership, permission, and responsibility. In her research, Ruth found no definitive protocols dictating who may practice Chilkat weaving within Tsimshian culture, yet the importance of respecting crest ownership remains paramount. Each design is tied to clan or house rights, and modern weavers honor these rights by carefully choosing imagery with approval from community leaders.
Among the Tlingit and Haida