| Folk Arts - Master Artist - Bruce Miller
Gerald Bruce subiyay Miller was a heralded member of the Skokomish Tribe and master of many art forms, including Twana basket weaving, specializing in the T’kayas style. He began to weave around age ten, learning from the last two Twana basket weavers, Emily Miller (his mother) and Louisa Pulsifer. He was also a respected ceremonial and spiritual leader of the Twana and a member of the culture committee. An educator at heart, Bruce developed adult education programs and designed the Early Indian Child Education Project. He also taught at the Institute of American Indian Art. His work has been featured in many exhibits and publications, and he has received numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts National Folk Arts Fellowship (2006), a Washington Folk Arts Fellowship, and the Washington Governor's Art and Heritage Award in 1992.
The Twana people are world-renown for their basketry skills. T’kayas is a form of Twana basketry; used to create soft, twine baskets with overlay patterns. The baskets are made out of cattail, bear grass, cedar bark, and sweetgrass. Decorative animal borders are typical of the T’kayas basket weaving style. At the time when he was the last living Twana to still weave in the T’kayas style, Bruce and the Skokomish tribe felt it necessary that the traditional art be passed on to future generations.
As a 1994 recipient of an Apprenticeship grant, Miller taught four apprentices the art of Twana T’kayas basket weaving. Miller’s apprentices were Leona Miller, Anne Pavel, Jeanne Evernden, and Nikki Burfiend. All four apprentices were dedicated to learning and preserving the traditional art of Twana basketry. Miller’s apprentice, Nikki Burfiend, has already begun to teach her daughter Twana basketry weaving techniques. With the enthusiasm of these four, and many of his subsequent apprentices, Twana basketry will continue to be remembered as a traditional Skokomish Tribal art form.
Bruce subiyay Miller died of a stroke in early 2005 at the age of 60. | |||
