Blanket
Maker: Northern Tlingit
Medium:Mountain goat wool, cedar bark, dyes
Geography: Lynn Canal/Chilkat River, Alaska, USA
Date: 19th century
Object number: HN209
DescriptionChilkat blankets, named after the Chilkat Indians who wove them, are dancing blankets and symbols of great wealth worn by chiefs. The warp and weft strands of the weaving are twisted strands of mountain goat wool with the inner bark of the cedar added to the warp strands for strength. Dyes created from hemlock bark, lichen, and copper and urine coloured the wool that was woven into crest designs of stylized animal figures and mythological beings.