Folk Arts - Master Artist - Delores Churchill

Delores Churchill, of Ketchikan, Alaska, learned traditional Tsimshian weaving from masters Flora Matthew and Brenda White. She is a renowned basket weaver, recipient of multiple awards and has had her work shown in many exhibits. Her expertise has been called on for lectures, demonstrations and workshops all over the country.

Among the Haida, art, including basket weaving, was an everyday part of life. With the repression of Native American culture, however, craftspeople in Northwest Coastal art have become increasingly rare.

As a recipient of a 1996 Apprenticeship grant, Churchill taught Loa Ryan to prepare materials, plaiting, five basketry finishes, false embroidery, and to create designs of her own. In conclusion of Loa’s apprenticeship, both Loa and Churchill demonstrated weaving at the Tsimshian Urban Feast.

Loa Ryan met Delores Churchill at one of her Tsimshian weaving workshops. Delores was impressed with Loa’s skill and enthusiasm for the art form, prompting Delores to choose Loa as an apprentice. Loa recognizes Tsimshian basketry as both a beautiful and endangered art form, in desperate need of conservation.

As a recipient of a 1994 Apprenticeship grant, Churchill taught Lisa Telford advanced Haida weaving and material preparation techniques. Lisa also documented her apprenticeship, creating a manual for future generations to follow.

Lisa Telford currently resides in Everett, Washington and has practiced Haida and Nishga weaving techniques since 1993, continuing to weave to keep the traditional art form alive. Telford documented her apprenticeship progress through detailed writings and instructions. Her documentation was unconventional since ancient Haida traditions are generally passed down through oral tradition. Describing the experience of pulling spruce roots on the beach, for example, Telford included instructions for treating and storing the roots, and the traditional reasons for using such methods. She offered a similar description for gathering and treating cedar bark. Telford has thus provided future generations with a written manual to supplement the oral tradition used to pass on the art of basket weaving.