PULLMAN, Wash. Examples of rare Coast Salish textile weaving, part of a traveling exhibit titled SQ3Tsya’yay: Weaver’s Spirit Power, will be on display at the Washington State University Museum of Anthropology, College Hall, on Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. The exhibit will run through Dec. 15. The museum’s exhibit area is open 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Artist Susan Pavel will begin the exhibit with a “walk-through” discussion of her traditional regalia, blankets, vests and contemporary weaving implements. A public reception with refreshments will follow.
“This exhibition will have broad appeal,” said Barbara Brotherton, curator of Native American art at the
“Inherent to Salish weaving are the teachings,” said Michael Pavel, associate professor of education at WSU and Susan Pavel’s husband. “The most important of these teachings is unity, which teaches our society that individual fibers are weak until twisted together. Like individuals of a family, community, tribe or nation, we are weak until we learn to work together in unity, to realize that our beauty and strength is inherently brought to life together and not when we are alone.”
“Weaving is not merely what I do, weaving is a way of looking at the world,” said Susan Pavel, an apprentice of master Salish weaver and Skokomish tribal member Bruce (subiyay) Miller. Pavel, who is Hawaiian and Filipino, studies and embraces her husband’s Twana culture and tradition and has been given the ancestral name sa’hLamitSa by Michael’s family.
Coast Salish textile weaving is a relatively unknown art form, but according to Pavel there was a time when fiber weaving was as highly esteemed as carving. “Our hope and intention is to continue to build interest in the art form by educating our people and the public at large about Coast Salish weaving,” she said.
Traditionally, Salish blankets and clothing are woven using a variety of animal and plant fibers, including mountain goat wool, canine hair, hemp, fireweed, cattail, and yellow and red cedar bark. Various plants, such as bark from Oregon grape, stinging nettles, various lichens and alder bark, are used to create colors used in dying the wool.
“Susan is extremely proficient in the practice of weaving,” said Brotherton. “While she invokes a traditional ethos in her work, she freely allows herself to try new things. I’m continually surprised by the beauty and sublimity of her work. Just when I think she has created the most wonderful piece, she will do another that surpasses that.
“Her work also allows those of us outside the culture a glimpse into what is elemental in Native philosophy: respect the earth, honor your talent as an artist, learn from the ancestors, carry yourself with dignity and give back to others,” Brotherton said.
Pavel will lead a noon “brown-bag” demonstration and presentation about Salish weaving Thursday, Nov. 2, in the Bundy Reading Room. The presentation, part of the Art a la Carte program, and the exhibit are sponsored by Campus Involvement Arts and Culture Programs.
The following photos were taken by Shelly Hanks
Susan Pavel
Work of Susan Pavel
Work of Susan Pavel
