Chilkat Blanket

Tlingit, Alaska, 1880-1900; Woven from mountain goat wool and cedar bark, Chilkat robes, also known as “dancing blankets,” were worn on ceremonial occasions. Women created these intricate weavings, painstakingly reproducing crest designs that had been painted on wooden pattern boards. This type of weaving originated with the Tsimshian and spread to other groups through intermarriage. The right to wear a Chilkat is inherited.