[GALLERY ENTRY, LEFT WALL (FRONT)]
haʔłəčil / welcome
We invite you to enter into this space with an open heart and an open mind.
We hope that you are able to leave your worries and burdens at this threshold.
Know that what you are about to experience was put together by a collaborative team of weavers and museum staff with good intentions and love.
[GALLERY ENTRY, RIGHT WALL (FRONT)]
Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center
We are a committed group of weavers dedicated to preserving and promoting the customary practices of Coast Salish wool weaving.
We share generational knowledge to sustain the sacred weaving that honors our ancestors. In this exhibit, we invite you to experience the joy, artistry, and teachings embodied in Coast Salish weaving.
CSWWC Board
Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Squamish,
sa’hLa mitSa Dr. Susan Pavel, Filipina, Married into Skokomish
SiSeeNaxAlt Gail White Eagle, Muckleshoot
Haʔməkʷitən Kelly Sullivan, Port Gamble S’Klallam,
teeweewas Tillie Jones, Tulalip,
Qw3 ’May Usia Tahnee Hawk Miller, Skokomish
Members of the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center are the lead curators for this exhibition. Some members are pictured above, alongside Burke Museum staff.
[GALLERY ENTRY, LEFT WALL (BACK)]
thank you | t̓igʷitubułəd
Sponsors, partners, & colleagues for your generosity, support, and collaborative spirit
Exhibit Sponsors
Floyd & Delores Jones
Endowed Fund for the Arts
Kym Aughtry
Marella Fund
Peach Foundation
Terra Foundation for American Art
The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation
ArtsWA Washington State Arts Commission
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Endowment for the Arts
4Culture
Office of Arts & Culture Seattle
The Burke Museum is proud to collaborate with the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center, whose members are the lead curators for this exhibition.
Curatorial Group
Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Squamish
sa’hLa mitSa Dr. Susan Pavel, Filipina, married into Skokomish
SiSeeNaxAlt Gail White Eagle, Muckleshoot
Haʔməkʷitən Kelly Sullivan, Port Gamble S’Klallam
teeweewas Tillie Jones, Tulalip
Qw3 ’May Usia Tahnee Hawk Miller, Skokomish
Advisors
Alison Ariss
Crisca Bierwert
Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa
Michael Pavel
qəɫtəblu Tami Hohn (Puyallup)
q̓ʷat̓ələmu ɫukʷalabəɫ Nancy Jo Bob (Lummi, Duwamish)
Skwetsimeltx̱w Willard “Buddy” Joseph (Squamish)
Weńanūá Al Charles Jr. (Lower Elwha Klallam, Lummi)
Susan Rowley
Burke Curator of Northwest Native art
Katie Bunn-Marcuse
Project Team
Kaitlyn Ellison
Grace Gousman
Bridget Johnson
Hollye Keister
Melissa Kennedy
Craig Matsuda
Justice McNeeley (Iñupiaq)
Milena Mills
Bethany Palkovitz
Rowe Redick
Lora Starr
Additional thanks to the many people who contributed, including
Becky Andrews, Michelle Banks, Rosa Castañeda, Ashlynn Callender, Christie Chambless (Skokomish), Michelle Cohen, Linda Collins, Webster Crowell, Jeff Deveaux, Marla Beth Elliot, Sara Gonzalez, CJ Johnson, Roxanne Hockett (Port Gamble S’Klallam), Dusty Humphries (Jamestown S’Klallam), Warren King George (Muckleshoot), Sharon Kinley (Lummi), Robyn Klarman, Craig Kuehnert, Stephanie Lamson, Laura Phillips, Kate Clive-Powell, Benjimen Hart, Olive Keilholtz, Claire Kenney, Rose Mathison, Joanne Matsusaka, Aaron McCanna (Yup’ik), Zoe McDonell, Delbert Miller (Skokomish), Polly Olsen (Yakama), Rachel Ormiston, Sumathi Raghavan, Thalia Richardson (Ogalala Lakota Nation), Andrea Rockwood, Sakari Marie Schlehlein (Steilacoom), Garrett Sitting Dog (Port Gamble S’Klallam), Cal’ Smith (Lower-Cowlitz, Yakama, Grand Ronde), Chris Snyder, Morgan Soderland, Michael Stephens, Mary Jane Topash (Tulalip), Molly Winslow
And staff from
American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Museum of Vancouver, National Park Service, Royal British Colombia Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
[LEFT OF INTRO PLATFORM]
Generations of teachers
“Don’t teach all of our children exactly the same things.
If you teach them everything, all the same, they won’t need one another, and the world will split apart.”
— subiyay Bruce Miller, Skokomish
“One of the teachings that subiyay Bruce Miller would say over and over is that he wouldn’t teach all of us the same thing. If all of us knew all of it, then you would have no need to rely upon each other.
In that way yes, we all have some commonality. But we also all bring something very unique to the table that can be woven in together.
It’s just been a beautiful journey. In being humble enough and yet confident enough to walk together.”
— sa’hLa mitSa Dr. Susan Pavel Filipina, married into Skokomish
[TRIANGLE ENTRY PLATFORM]
subiyay Bruce Miller, Skokomish
Karen Skyki Reed, Puyallup
Warrior's Pride
Wool, badger fur, natural dyes, leather, glass beads
2002
On loan from sa’hLa mitSa Dr. Susan Pavel
Che top ie Frances James, Lummi
Tsi’li’xw Bill James, Lummi
Woven Robe
Hand-spun wool
Ca. 2012
Traditionally passed to Sharon Kinley, loaned courtesy of Sharon Kinley
Che top ie Frances James (seated) wears Susan Pavel’s robe du’kWXaXa’t3w3l in 2007.
Her son Tsi’li’xw Bill James speaks to the historic importance of the robe’s creation and the dedication ceremony as Susan stands in the background listening to her teachers.
[TITLE WALL]
Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving
“It all starts with the ancestors and the foundation that they laid for us. Our ancestors passed on teachings through those weavings.
They're woven in.
They're woven right into those robes. The stories are woven in the robes. It's part of us now.
That's the strength. That's the story. That's the genius.”
— Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, Squamish
Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving honors the living tradition of Coast Salish Wool Weaving, a customary practice that conveys the teachings, stories, and spirit of our people.
Throughout our Coast Salish territory, we come together to preserve and promote this Indigenous weave style as an expression of cultural strength and continuity.
Our weavings hold memory, knowledge, and the breath of our ancestors. They remain vital today, reminding us that Coast Salish Wool Weaving is a vibrant, enduring practice shaping our spiritual and ceremonial beliefs.
[GALLERY ENTRY, RIGHT WALL (BACK)]
English is not the first language of this region
The names for the weavings, tools, and materials in this exhibition are in the language of their home community.
Where we were not able to confirm the original place of creation for a belonging, we have instead used ləšucid (Lushootseed) when possible—the original language of the land the Burke resides on.
We include words from
ləšucid (Lushootseed: Northern/Southern)
tuwaduq (Skokomish Language)
kʷinayɫ ɫək (Quinault Language)
nəxʷsƛaýəmúcən (Klallam Language)
Sḵwxwú7mesh sníchim (Squamish Language)
Hul’q’umi’num (Cowichan Language)
Halqemeylem (Sto:lo Language)
Accessibility
The Burke is working to expand access to the stories we share in our exhibitions. The following options are available for this gallery:
Large Format Print Binders Please return here when exiting this gallery.
Assistive Listening Devices Available by request from any gallery guide or at the admission desk.
Scan for Exhibit Text burkemuseum.org/access
