Millennia of Coast Salish tradition are woven into Continuing the Ceremony, at West Vancouver Art Museum
Chief Dr. Janice George brings knowledge as both curator and practitioner to works that reflect not only the deep past but also the emerging future of Indigenous weaving arts
Chief Dr. Janice George.
The West Vancouver Art Museum presents Continuing the Ceremony: Chief Dr. Janice George and Students from August 30 to October 4
CONTINUING THE CEREMONY highlights Coast Salish weaving as a living, evolving practice that reaffirms cultural identity and strengthens communities. The exhibition is guest curated by Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Dr. Janice George, one of the 16 hereditary chiefs of the Squamish Nation and co-curator of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. Chief George is a master weaver devoted to preserving the Coast Salish weaving tradition.
The exhibition displays the work not only of Chief George, but also of four of her students from the Squamish Nation: Siyaltenaat–Joy Joseph-McCullough, Xwemilut–Lisa Lewis, Sam Seward, and Dana Thomas.
“When a ceremony starts, a woven blanket is laid down, and the person who’s getting a name, or married, or a chiefship, or coming-of-age ceremony, or memorializing a loved one, they’re put on that blanket,” Chief George says in a phone interview with Stir. “So what that blanket is signifying, and what that blanket does spiritually, is create a pure space that’s been woven for you, and has never been used by anyone else. The blanket is spiritual and energetic protection for the ceremony—the weaver is creating protection for that person, and then a headband is woven and put on that person.”
As Chief George notes, the weavings are not driven solely by aesthetic or practical purposes. “It’s not simply for protection against the elements,” she says. “A weaver’s job is to make sure that you’re creating a space. If you’re weaving for a ceremony, then you are creating a pure space that this person starts their new life from. Or if you’re weaving a robe, then you’re weaving protection for that person’s spiritual and energetic protection, as well as protection from the elements.”
Textile weaving has long been an integral part of Coast Salish culture. Archaeological evidence of the practice dates back thousands of years, with the domestication of the now-extinct Salish Woolly dog, which Salish peoples raised to cultivate fur for textiles.
“The Salish Woolly dog has been bred for a minimum of six thousand years,” Chief George adds. “Coast Salish people have been weaving for a long time.”
Chief George’s initiative to revitalize Coast Salish weaving has grown drastically since she began to pursue sharing the craft nearly twenty years ago.
“Our first project was weaving for the Squamish and Lil’wat Cultural Centre for the Olympics in 2010,” Chief George says. “The Olympics were a great start-off for Coast Salish weaving. It was exciting in our community, our people were waiting for it. We started teaching our people, then we started teaching in other nations. So we've taught at many other nations and helped bring back the tradition of weaving for them.
“I’m happy to say that for the first time, Emily Carr University of Art + Design is offering a Coast Salish weaving course this September, and it’ll be an accredited course,” George adds. “So I’m really thrilled about that and I think it’s a fantastic start, and I think there’s going to be great things to come from that.”
In Continuing the Ceremony, Chief George emphasizes that cultural practices such as Coast Salish weaving are not only about preserving tradition and history, but about caring for community. Weaving is an intergenerational practice that extends valuable knowledge and philosophy through generations, forming a cultural foundation that affirms identity and belonging.
“Every time I look out my door or window, I see what my ancestors have done for me, have left here for me,” Chief George says. “And it’s a lot—I see how our ancestors planned ahead for us. I have always thought about what I can contribute. When we talk about fishing, we talk about canoe building, we talk about weaving, we talk about cedar weaving, it’s what we can contribute. That’s what’s important to do, is to contribute to that foundation that we all stand firmly on as Squamish people.”
After devoting much of her life to preserving and learning from the teachings of her elders, Chief George now continues her work by carrying Coast Salish weaving tradition to future generations.
“I love when I have an opportunity to show my students’ work,” Chief George says of the exhibition. “It makes me just as proud, or even prouder, to see their work hanging as it does to see mine.”
She points out that the show will include “powerful statements” from the weavers. One piece, she notes, takes the form of a family crest, and another is a political statement about the Hudson’s Bay Company.
“Coast Salish culture is very much alive and well,” Chief George concludes. “I’ve heard youth call it an act of resistance, although, being my age, I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s a powerful statement.’ But you know what? It’s important for our people.
“Everything in our culture has meaning, and we’ve taken care of each other. Our culture goes back thousands and thousands of years,” Chief George adds. “We share our culture as much as we can, because we want people to understand how we feel about not only our culture, but the land that we live on, because everything has to do with the land, everything.” 
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