ní•ckawˀ (Woman’s Hat)

The ní•ckawˀ is a powerful icon of feminine knowledge, caregiving, and matrilineal heritage. In continuing weyí•letpu•m tradition, woven hats like this are worn by those women who gather the first fruits and vegetables for feasts of thanksgiving during which ní•ckawˀ are worn in honor. Some older women wear these hats as a mark of distinction during other gatherings too, always as indicator of adherence to traditional laws, or tamá•lwit. Often passed from generation to generation of women, just like tamá•lwit governing sustainable agriculture, these hats transcend individual lives, representing long lines of knowledge and care.

Marcus Whitman collected this masterfully woven ní•ckawˀ during his mission work among the Cayuse Nation. The hat signifies tension between Whitman’s adherence to commandment to take dominion over the earth and the tamá•lwit represented by this ní•ckawˀ, a reciprocity between humans and the earth, led to the mission’s failure. This early conflict between a rapidly expanding United States and the Cayuse Nation was precursor to the devastating changes that followed under Manifest Destiny.

Today, the women who wear these ní•ckawˀ and practice tamá•lwit face incredible challenges to their continued stewardship of the lands and foods provided them. Introduced agriculture has overtaken most highly fertile root-bearing areas; fencing and “Private Property” signs bar access to many areas that remain; aerial herbicide application poisons the native foods on adjacent public or tribal land, and the commercialization of native foods like huckleberries upsets long-standing balances. Climate change threatens traditional growing seasons and availability. Today, then, ní•ckawˀ also represent the tenacity demonstrated by those women who continue to carry out tamá•lwit on our behalf.