The Weaving

While I had been spinning warp in Morocco, no weaving occurred. In life's varied and unexpected fashion, the wool for my wefts arrived in Fez from Canada the day before I was to leave. The Hageman-7idansuu Robe was invited to be a part of the SMASH exhibit at The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in the spring. I was quite honoured to be asked and happy that Chief 7idansuu was willing to lend his regalia. The one hiccup was that the Hageman-7idansuu Robe was already invited and promised for display at the Time Warp exhibit at The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in the summer. I had promised the curator in Victoria not to leave her with a naked mannequin in the midst of her impressive display. Of course, at the time of the promising, I had expected to have three months of weaving in Morocco under my belt when I returned!! A madness of weaving began when I returned. A black and white film of a robe worn over a century ago, a robe created by cousin Evelyn over 15 years ago and my sister Tracy's breathtaking creation of a graduation robe inspired The Woven Sea Robe. It is a marriage of a fully woven Chief's robe and a button blanket. Thus, the end result is a Haida crest figure in ultrasuede overlayed on a background of ultrasuede yet surrounded on three sides with a Raven's Tail woven border. Happily, with little sleep, the robe took its place in Victoria as Chief 7idansuu's robe made its way to Vancouver. This takes us up to the Time Warp opening in July which was a grand affair and yes, a perfect opportunity to roll out those red-soled Parisienne delicacies. It was an honour to stand with such an impressive assemblage of weavers. They represented strength and tenacity and creative fulfillment. The honour did not wane but certainly the standing in those shoes began to lose its glow!

A secret was afoot at this time. A wonderful man (shall he remain nameless and mysterious, cloaked in secrecy?...yes) arrived at the gallery to film some footage of yours truly. Why? Hmm....Tune in to the next edition for the conclusion of this weeks' story...

By the time I had began to recover from the excitement of those many months, September had rolled around and with it the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia's first ever World Art Market (or WAM at UBC's MOA for those in a hurry). This was the first market that I had decided to take part in. Predominantly due to the beauty of the setting and certainly for the kindness of those who devote themselves to its continued success. I set up my table top weaving frame and settled in for a weekend of explaining the art of Raven's Tail weaving. The happiness from the night before had yet to wear off as The Woven Sea Robe had been a First Place Ribbon winner at the Friday evening awards ceremony. The happiness did not wear off but was instead increased ten, a hundred, a thousand fold...

Kwii introduced me to an intriguing man...(more to follow)...

...and another lovely man walked into my booth and we began to talk. What a gentle and gracious man he was. Thus The Woven Sea Robe became the Wosk Woven Sea Robe. My brother Michael walked across the undulating landscape, past the reflecting pool and in a light drizzle of rain to the Haida longhouse wearing the robe. It was a time without time or rather it was a blurring of time as we stood in a modern city yet in front of the recreation of an ancestral landscape. Modern overcoats milled about tucked under umbrellas and yet there stood a beacon representing one of our ancestral symbols of wealth, power and status.

Rain drummed on the cedar roof of the longhouse. Dignitaries spoke as friends of the creation of the place where we had gathered, of the dream that came to fruition, of the people who made it possible. Michael spoke of the honour of the occasion. I spoke of the inspiration of a day on the waters of Haida Gwaii that became the Woven Sea Robe. We presented the robe to the man who makes the robe even more honourable. That weekend was a gift. Haa'wa.

The weaving tale continued that fall with a trip to Toronto as an invited exhibitor and speaker at the Haida Made exhibit at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. If only we cousins, MNY, Evelyn and Reg, had known it was also the weekend of the Toronto marathon...(always check for marathons and bank holidays!). Then the secret footage came out as I was accorded one of the British Columbia Achievement Awards for First Nations Art by Premier Gordon Campbell. No, I did not say anything to him that resulted in his career change. Stop that rumour right now.

Conversations continued with the intriguing man... Visits to Santa Fe began. Treaty negotiations were opened in both territories.