NAAXEIN • NAAXIIN • GWISHALAAYT • CHILKAT WEAVING

Naaxein (Chilkat Robe), Diving Whale Robe

Gift of Belle G. Simpson, The Nugget Gift Shop, Juneau, 1967. ASM II-B-1841

This Diving Whale Robe was purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company for the Nugget Shop, Juneau—a gift store specializing in Alaska art. The design is often interpreted as the “Diving Whale,” with the central panel featuring the large whale’s head at the bottom, a humanoid face representing the body, and the tail at the top. Other interpretations are possible, and it may have been intended to be ambiguous, so that the recipient of the robe could implant their own meaning. Whatever the design may represent, it is the most common pattern used in Chilkat weaving in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Pattern Board for “Diving Whale” Robe

ASM II-B-1131

Weavers followed pattern boards, traditionally painted by men, to accurately render the painted line in weaving. Following the traditional division of labor, men painted and carved, and women did the weaving.