Arts & Cultures Collections Database

Woven with a twilled technique, this robe represents a style of weaving used on the southern Northwest Coast for robes and shawls. It is believed to be the first robe woven of mountain goat wool in Washington State in the 20th century. By the early 20th century, these traditional robes had been replaced by commercial trade blankets. It was not until the 1960s that Salish weavers, using domestic sheep's wool, began to revive their traditional weaving arts, first at Sardis, B.C., and more recently at Musqueam, B.C. and Lummi in Washington. Fran James and her son Bill have been instrumental in reviving and continuing the traditional weaving and basketry skills of the Lummi people.

'In the Spirit of the Ancestors'-This robe is believed to be the first robe woven of mountain goat wool in Washington State in the 20th century. By the early 20th century, traditional mountain goat wool robes had been replaced by commercial trade blankets. Fran James and her son Bill have been instrumental in reviving and continuing the traditional weaving and basketry skills of the Lummi people.