Folk Arts - Master Artist - Bobby ayit Rose

The Makah tribe maintains a strong connection to cultural traditions which involve their natural environment. This includes complex preparation of the sea mammals which are abundant in the waters around the Makah reservation. The tribe is renowned for generosity with food and the preparation of meals is especially important to their culture. Following thirty years of watching elders prepare seal, Bobby ?ayit Rose has become an expert in this process. She is one of few remaining Makah with knowledge of the entire seal, employing such practices as k`a ti th (making seal oil), cicit` (the process of cutting), and, of course, `cabasi yax (enjoying the food). Rose acquired her skills the traditional way, spending time with elders as they dried fish and butchered seal. She is often chosen to prepare meals for her community’s potlatches and cooks for all the traditional events of the Makah Cultural and Research Center.

As the recipient of a 2000 Apprenticeship grant, Rose taught Denise Dailey to traditionally treat and prepare seal. Rose focused on teaching Dailey how to remove a seal’s skin and blubber, butcher and prepare the meat, render oil, smoke meat and blubber, and how to cook and serve the final products. Denise Dailey has had a desire to learn Makah traditions since she was unable to do so as a child. Dailey is the Makah’s former Marine Biologist and learning Makah traditions has added a depth of understanding to her knowledge of marine life. She has also strived to share her wisdom in biology with Bobby and the rest of the Makah, so they too can share a more complex understanding of the world around them.

The recipient of a 1995 Apprenticeship grant, Rose taught Marcelina Parker traditional Makah culinary techniques and serving methods. Rose focused on teaching Parker how to harvest, process, and preserve seafood and other seasonal foods. Parker learned to work with foods including, halibut, octopus, salmon roe, seagull eggs, and seal. In conclusion to the apprenticeship, Rose and Parker provided several meals for their community at potlatches and other traditional ceremonies. The information documented during their apprenticeship was given to the Makah Cultural and Research Center to be preserved to further teaching in the future. Marcelina Parker has cooked with Rose for many years. Learning more advanced culinary techniques allows her to pass on additional skills to newer generations.

Rose was awarded a 2006 Folk Arts Fellowship in recognition of the contributions she has made to preserving Makah cultural heritage. She has also received national recognition through a Fund for Folk Culture award in 2005.