Arts & Cultures Collections Database

This robe is the newest addition to the Burke Museum's collection of contemporary Northwest Coast weaving. Closely twined in a geometric pattern, robes such as this have been known as "nobility blankets" because they were worn by high-ranking Salish families who had the wealth to commission them in the 19th century. Traditionally woven of mountain goat wool, today's robes are mostly woven with commercial sheep's wool. Sisters Debra and Robyn Sparrow have been leaders of the revival of Musqueam weaving, and have participated in the Musqueum Weaving Group since its establishment in the mid-1980s. In the course of weaving this robe, the Musqueam community and the Sparrow family suffered a number of deaths, leading Debra and Robyn to call it a mourning blanket-acknowledging that as they worked they had to deal with the Spirit.

"In the Spirit of the Ancestors"-Robes like this are known as "nobility blankets" because they were worn by high-ranking Salish families who had the wealth to commission them. Sisters Debra and Robyn Sparrow have been leaders of the revival of Musqueam weaving. In the course of weaving this robe, the Musqueam community and the Sparrow family suffered a number of deaths, leading Debra and Robyn to call it a mourning blanket.