Weaving & Beadwork
Ursala “Kadusné” Hudson, Tlingit, “Sister Bear”, 2023.
Hudson, whose Tlingit name is Kadusné, meaning “they are weaving”, is a contemporary artist recently emerging herself in her Native culture, being a person of mixed-race. Chilkat weaving, a practice central to ceremony and dance customs of the Tlingit people, is a technique utilized to represent clan histories and connections to nature. Sister Bear, the spirit depicted in this robe, is associated with a divine relation to ancestors, indicating her work as being a means to tether her heritage to the present, as Tlingit and Native people do through their very existence.
Hudson, Ursala. “Sister Bear,” child-size Chilkat robe from merino wool, silk, and cedar bark, 2023. Kadusné. https://kadusne.com/works/sisterbear/.
Ursala “Kadusné” Hudson, Tlingit, “Spider Woman Comes In”, 2024.
Spider Woman is integrated again in Hudson’s work, though through a traditional Chilkat shawl. Her use of natural materials emphasizes the deep history of Tlingit culture and the legendary imagery of the Spider Woman, the design of her threads seen as the creation of weaving itself. This piece is meant to show that the isolation and fear imposed on Indigenous people by colonial powers, such as Russia and the US to Tlingit people, can be overcome through the connectivity entwined by their culture, accentuated through the use of a historic Chilkat blanket.
Hudson, Ursala. “Spider Woman Comes In,” Chilkat shawl from merino wool, silk, cedar bark, fox fur, and tencel, 2024. Kadusné. https://kadusne.com/works/spider-woman-comes-in/.
Alison Bremner (Collaborative Project), Tlingit, “Owl”, 2013.
This button blanket, made of wool and abalone buttons, was a collaborative piece with other Native artists. It emphasizes the significance of community and the continuity of tradition within and beyond it. Button blankets are used in ceremony and dance as regalia items; thus, though stagnant in this photo, the piece inherently carries so much motion and rhythm that is actualized when put to use.
Bremner, Alison, Boxley, David R., and Cheryl Easterwood. “Owl,” button blanket with formline owl design, 2013. Alison Bremner Tlingit Artist. https://alisonobremner.com/portfolio/owl/.