Haines apprentice learns Chilkat weaving with CIA’s traditional arts initiative | KHNS Radio | KHNS FM

2022-05-22 01:34:42 By : Mr. shaoyong zhang

Posted by Corinne Smith | May 14, 2022 | Featured Stories, News | 0

Karen Taug is working on both a Ravenstail weaving and a Chilkat weaving, but her apprenticeship is focused on Chilkat weaving techniques and skills (Corinne Smith/KHNS)

A year-long Lingít arts initiative through Chilkoot Indian Association pairs mentors with apprentices to develop their craft and strengthen traditional and cultural knowledge. Karen Taug is an artist apprentice in the program, learning Chilkat weaving with teacher Lily Hope to create a child’s Chilkat robe. 

Karen Taug’s weaving looms stand in her second floor living room facing large windows and a sweeping view of the Chilkat Mountains. The snow-capped peaks are bathed in spring sunlight. 

“My name is Karen Taug. Gunáa shaa duwasáakw. I’m a child of the Raven Coho.”

Taug has ancestry in the Chilkat Valley and Yukon Territory. Her grandfather was from Chilkoot, and his mother was from Klukwan, and her great-grandmother was from Klukshu. Taug retired to Haines with her husband, after 40 years in Juneau.

Since retiring, she’s focused on weaving. She has two looms set up, one with the beginning’s of Ravenstail design. The other is the start of a Chilkat weaving. 

“I’ve been self-teaching, I’ve taken a couple university classes in Juneau, and learned Ravenstail (weaving), which you can see I’m doing my Ravenstail robe here. And I’ve done small Ravenstail projects, but I’ve never done a great big Chilkat project,” she said.

Taug is an apprentice learning Chilkat weaving with Juneau-based artist Lily Hope as part of the Chilkoot Indian Association’s year-long traditional arts program. 

“Doing eyes or a nose or a mouth on a Chilkat design,” she said pointing. “There’s so many intricate weavings within that one little small space. For instance, when you do an eye, there’s the back-and-forth which is called the weft.”

Taug is making a child’s Chilkat robe for her grandson. She and Hope started working together in March, and Taug made a trip with her portable loom to Hope’s Juneau studio every few weeks since. 

Karen Taug says she enjoys the precision and attention to detail of her design and the weaving process (Corinne Smith/KHNS)

First, they adapted a Chilkat robe design by Clarissa Rizal , a famous Chilkat weaver – and Hope’s mother. Next, Taug dyed the yellow and blue yarn herself, and hung the warp, meaning the threads that hang vertically.

“It’s fun. She’s (Hope) a high-energy person, so it’s really enjoyable to be around her,” Taug said smiling.

Taug is keeping a journal of her time weaving. It’s an intricate and laborious process, but after a career in finance and accounting she has an eye for details. 

“​​I have 90 hours into what I have so far. And look, 90 hours and how much is that? That’s only 3 inches,” she said laughing. “It feels pretty good, actually.”

According to Taug, weaving a Chilkat robe can take between 1,800 to 2,000 hours. She estimates the child’s robe to take between 800 to 1,000 hours, to be completed by November. 

“It’s almost relaxing, going back-and-forth, back-and-forth. But then you get the design. And then it’s like you have to really pay attention. So I think it keeps your mind sharp,” she said. “I’m retired now. And I’m not using my mind, you know, eight to 10 hours a day doing numbers, which is what I did for 30 years. But now I’m paying attention and using my mind for art, which I’m really enjoying, quite frankly.”

Taug says when she’s weaving she looks out at the mountains and thinks about the work and skill that went in to weaving by generations past.

“It’s very, very calming,” she said. “I think a lot about history and about what our ancestors did. I mean, you know, they would climb the mountains, I think the men were the ones that climbed the mountains and gathered the wool when they were up hunting. And the women would take the wool off, and spin it. But can you imagine climbing the mountain, getting the wool, cleaning the wool, you know, and then I guess they just use their finger, I imagine they came up with some kind of fork or something to, you know, comb it so that they could spin it. And then to get the cedar or the spruce, I think they use spruce to in the old days. But just the work involved. Oh, my goodness. It’s a lot.”

Karen’s Taug weaves facing the Chilkat Mountains (Corinne Smith/KHNS)

The effort is important to Taug, in learning traditional Chilkat weaving and to someday pass on the skills and techniques to others. 

“It is very important,” she said. “Because it feels like for a long time, we weren’t allowed, Lingít, Haida, Tsimshian, and American Indian, you know, they were trying to erase us, basically. So people like my mom, who’s now 88, she didn’t get to enjoy or be a part of the culture because it was being washed out.”

Taug says her mother and aunts were survivors of the Native boarding school system, and were sent to Christian schools all over Alaska – Wrangell, Skagway, some in Juneau, Sitka and Seward. 

“They didn’t want them to know about their culture. They didn’t want them to speak their language. And so now we have a revitalization of the language starting. And then we also are bringing back our traditional art,” Taug said. 

She says her mother is excited about her learning Chilkat weaving, and so far it’s been a challenging and wonderful experience.

For those interested in following along with Karen Taug and the other apprentices and mentors’ process throughout this year, check out their blogs on the Chilkoot Indian Association website here. 

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