YEIL KOOWÚ • QWĒGAL GIA’T • RAVEN’S TAIL WEAVING

Noow Tlein dax Yeil Koowú, The Ravens Tail Robe of Castle Hill

Sitka Tlingit, Circa 1820-30s
ASM 2016-2

These fragments are the only known pieces of an original robe to remain in the land where the technique originated. The black dye helped preserve the wool, as undyed areas are more deteriorated. They are all that remain of a robe uncovered unexpectedly during a 1998 archaeological excavation in Sitka. The fragments were found at the base of a prominent rock called “Castle Hill,” where the Russian-American Company built a fur trading post and residence for their chief manager, dubbed “Baranov’s Castle.” To the Sitka Tlingit, the rock was Noow Tlein, belonging to the Kiks.ádi clan.

Archaeologists recovered a handful of boldly patterned cloth fragments, and though muddy and deteriorated, the cloth’s geometric patterns were still clear, and quite unlike any fabric the crew had seen before. Visiting the site a few hours later was Janice Criswell, a Haida/Tlingit weaver and a grandchild of Aakw’taatseen (Rudolph Walton), a Kiks.ádi leader. Surveying the artifacts recovered so far that day Criswell caught a glimpse of the cloth and its geometric pattern—and was hit by a sudden burst of recognition. “I was stunned to see something so special and so unexpected,” she later said. Recovering from her astonishment, Criswell explained to the archaeologists that they had uncovered the delicate remains of a Tlingit “raven’s tail” robe. To illustrate, Criswell showed the archaeologist the designs on her raven’s tail tee shirt that she happened to wear that day. Criswell and other weavers were in the process of helping to revive the raven’s tail weaving tradition.

The largest fragment is from the upper left-hand corner of the robe. It includes a portion of an intricate zig-zag pattern called “lightning” by contemporary weavers—and below it, an incomplete pattern called kaa jikóol kajóolani (back of an old person’s hand tattoo), derived from a tattoo pattern. Also, a smaller fragment of nested rectangles, called woosh kináadei ádi (one within another).