Naax̲éin - Chilkat

Naax̱éin, Ceremonial Chilkat Weaving, is the practice done by Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida peoples of the NorthWest Coast, whose territory spans from the coast of Alaska, inland into Canada in the Yukon and B.C, all they way south to Colorado. It has been said that the Naax̱éin came to the Tlingit people via the way of the Tsimshian. 

Naax̱éin, Chilkat Weaving, are costal peoples historical documentation, and Ceremonial Robes have been used in the united states courts to confirm established oratory history and traditional land use. Traditional Ceremonial Weaving is held in the highest regard, are considered sacred living beings, and whole family lines are tasked with their caretaking, as they live for hundreds of years. 

Naax̱éin Chilkat weaving is considered the most complex weaving practice known to man, due to the fact that the warp hanging from the loom is non-warp weighted, meaning there is no tension on the ends of the warp as they hang from the loom. There is no shuttle, brush, beater, combs or knots used in the creation of our traditional textiles. Every single stitch is placed by hand, at the time of weaving, and the tension comes from the weaver themselves as they weave. It is also the only weaving in the world that can weave a perfect circle. 

It begins with harvesting yellow cedar from living cedar trees with a traditional method that doesn't harm the tree. A tree can only be harvested once in its life, and once it has, if has become culturally modified. Culturally modified trees have been used by the traditional peoples to identify land use in traditional territory historically. The cedar then has to be cleaned, dried, and cured a minimum of one year before it can even be used. Once harvested and cured, the cedar can be processed with a variety of methods, including but not limited to: boiling, crushing, splitting, soaking, retting, splitting, sorting and drying the cedar to prepare it for weaving. 

Historically, once the cedar is suitably prepared, it is then incorporated it into the fiber by spinning it on the upper thigh one half inch at a time. The fiber used to be Janwu, mountain goat. Mountain goats shed their undercoat or "cashmere" every spring, and historically they were revered by the peoples of this territory as sacred, as they were the land animal that could get closest to Creator on the highest land on the peaks of mountains. The herds had families that tracked their migration, and they would tent diamond willow over their walking paths to gather and hold the undercoat as it shed, and would collect it that way so that no animals were harmed. Today, many weavers use Merino wool as it is much more reliable and accessible, altho there are some weavers still using fully traditional skills to this day. 

The spring shed was collected and spun on the thigh with the harvested cedar to create the warp that hangs from the loom and is the base for the weaving. One full size ceremonial robe can take up to 7 full mountain goat hides to create. A full sized ceremonial robe can take up to 1000 yards of warp just to begin the weaving.

Outlawed until 1976, there have only been 12 Weavers in the last 300 years that kept the traditional and ceremonial practice of creating our ancestors in this way alive. Now, due to the many efforts of the masters, there are over 30 Weavers that carry this practice today. 

The child-sized Naax̱éin Chilkat Robe (shown above) that was woven as a collective of apprenticeships under Wooshkindein Da.áat, Lily Hope,  in 2023 was completed with the intention of passing on the teachings in a good way. Lily Hope chose to replicate her late mothers final child-size robe that she wove for one of her grandsons to honor her and her legacy. It was modified by graphic designer and traditional weaver Kadusné, Ursala Hudson, Lily's sister, so that we could learn each specific design element. Each weaver made their own modifications, as the design is a guide, not a hard and fast rule. 

The face masks and hand ovoid colour in the central design field of the Child Size Naax̲éin Chilkat Robe - For The Stolen: A Journey Into Healing was chosen specifically to represent the gisʼóoḵ | aurora borealis or northern lights, who are considered Our Ancestors. The same colour is found in the hands, representing holding the knowledge of our ancestors for the next generation. It was then Danced in ceremony at the Sealaska Heritage Clan House in 2023 and exhibited at Juneau Douglas City Museum Feb 25, 2023 - EXTENDED to November 2023.  It has since been witnessed at 2024 Sealaska Celebration & 2025 Carcross Haa Ḵusteey, and can continue to be found in Ceremony. Gunałchéesh, thank you, for bearing witness!

Clik Here to see the Dancing of the Robes 2023