THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 SAFETY CONCERNS.
Coast Salish Wool Weaving: Historical and Contemporary Contexts
April 22, 2020
Location: Northwind Arts Center
7 p.m.
Free
Please join Kelly Sullivan enrolled member and Executive Director of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and Dr. Susan (sa’hLa mitSa) Pavel, who married into the Skokomish Tribe, for a shared discussion about Indigenous Wool Weaving regalia and its historical and contemporary importance. The conversation will lay a groundwork for understanding the history, cultural, and spiritual significance of Coast Salish Wool Weaving. Sullivan and Pavel, Board members of the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center, will share their weaving journey and hopes for the future.
sa’ hLa mitSa, Dr. Susan Pavel first learned Coast Salish Weaving the summer of 1996. Each summer she would produce one ceremonial blanket and then gift it to various elders of the tribe. By the fourth year she was selling the weavings. By the seventh year she was invited to teach weaving classes and has taught over 2,500 students. She has participated in and had solo exhibitions in seven museum exhibits. With public and private collectors across the nation she continues to weave. 2016 marked 20 Years of Coast Salish Wool Weaving for her and more importantly – SQ3Tsya’yay –Weaver’s Spirit Power.
Kelly Sullivan (Port Gamble S’Klallam), is an apprentice Coast Salish Weaver to Dr. Pavel. In 2016 Sullivan learned to weave and began participating with Dr. Pavel in all aspects of weaving; from learning about gathering raw materials, spinning and dying the wool using local plants, then to produce woven pieces of all types with the various techniques. Together, they have helped bring a strong resurgence of Coast Salish wool weaving to the Port Gamble S’Klallam Community where many weavers and teachers are beginning to emerge.
This discussion will be open to the public as well as offered to participants of the four-weekend Coast Salish Wool Weaving course offered through Centrum’s Northwest Heritage Residency program in partnership with Fort Worden Public Development Authority and Port Townsend School of the Arts. Learn more about this course here. This programming is made possible through a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.
