Rich Traditions 
Goat hair blankets were made for personal use, given as gifts to establish friendly relations, and distributed at the potlatch to display wealth. At potlatches leaders were known to give away between 300 and 400 blankets. At burials blankets were distributed as gifts. At a wedding a girl of high rank would have the path from her home to her husband's canoe covered with blankets. Women who devoted most of their time to weaving became specialists and their knowledge was passed on from mother to daughter. Weaving of blankets was an art form and a thriving industry.
Ingenuity and hard work were combined to create the materials used in weaving. Goat's wool was dusted with a white clay-like substance to absorb the oils and making it easier to spin. A combination of dog's hair, down from water fowl, and milk or fire weed was combined on a spindle. The yarn was used for finer garments. Colors used in weaving were black, yellow orange and brown. Black was produced by boiling hemlock, birch bark or fern roots. Yellow dye was created by immersing yellow lichen in water and bringing it to a boil. The wool was left I the dye bath until the desired color was obtained. Red was produced from the bark of the alder. Brown was obtained from hemlock bark and the husks of hazel-nuts.
The looms were of two types: the two bar vertical loom was used for large twilled blankets and the single bar was used for mats, dance aprons, rugs, sashes and tump-lines (pack straps).
To make baskets the inner bark of the Yellow Cedar was stripped off, boiled, and worked into a soft pliable condition. Strips of the desired width would be torn off and used. Bark strips were also pounded into shreds, combined into small separate fibres, and used in work that required finely spun material.
The plain, checkerboard or diagonal weave was common in the making of baskets, mats and pack straps. Twilled weave was common in the production of the large Salish blankets. Twined weave was used in making the finest pieces.
Twine produced from nettle fibre was used in making nets, fishing line and for a warp (vertical threads of the web) in weaving. Cat-tail (Tule) were cut, laid on racks to dry and used for mat making. Cherry bark was used for decoration in mats in and baskets. No pounding was necessary for cherry bark preparation. Baskets were used for cooking, collecting berries, storage, ornaments, and as a status symbol.
Clallum Women Weaving
Source: Royal Ontario Museum
Painting by: Paul Kane
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