A Collaborative Exhibition in Seattle Shows the Lifecycle of Coast Salish Weaving

From there, the exhibition moves beyond the process of weaving to explore the relationships that make the practice possible. Bunn-Marcuse explains that Coast Salish weaving is rooted in relationships—with the land, the seasons, the animals that provide wool, and the generations of weavers who have carried this knowledge forward. Historically, Coast Salish twill-and-twine weaving stretched from southern British Columbia south through Oregon, where woven regalia carried meaning into ceremony, celebration, and political life. To this day, skilled weavers remain highly respected culture bearers.

Meaning lives in the cloth as well. “Weavings always tell a story,” says Chief Chepximiya Siyam’ Janice George of the Squamish Nation, one of the weavers who co-curated the show with Bunn-Marcuse. Some meanings remain private within families, while others mark public or political moments, including a 1908 delegation of Salish chiefs who traveled to Ottawa wrapped in specially made robes for protection and tribal identity.

For Bunn-Marcuse, the collaboration between the Burke and the Salish weavers had the strongest impact on the exhibition. “The respect that everyone had for the many kinds of skills each team member brought was inspirational,” she says.

She adds a final reflection: “The exhibit rejects a pejorative view of ‘craft’ based on gender, and elevates the skills and artistry of a specific group of contemporary artists while showcasing their relationship to the female artists who came before. In this way, the exhibit broadens the conversation about American art.”