TWINING

Robe—Yellow Cedar Bark

Makah (Nuu-chah-nulth)
Collected at Cape Flattery, Washington by Judge James Swan, 1891. ASM II-D-101

The tribes of the Northwest Coast made robes of shredded yellow cedar bark for both everyday and ceremonial use. The bark is finely shredded, and the resulting material is soft and comfortable, and warm even when wet. Some of these garments were embellished with wefts made of mountain goat wool to produce geometric patterns also found in raven’s tail weaving.

The eye-dazzling geometric patterns of raven’s tail textiles, woven in black on a white field and highlighted with traces of yellow, are like patterns used in baskets.

Before contact with Europeans and the introduction of wool and cotton cloth, twined aprons, tunics and robes of shredded cedar bark similar to this example were worn as everyday clothing by coastal tribes. The air trapped among the finely shredded bark helped retain body heat even when wet.