Chilkat Robe

Blanket

Chilkat blanket or ceremonial, finger woven robe with warp made from wool-wrapped cedar bark fibers and wool weft. Pentagonal shape with broad black and yellow bands enclosing a central design of a "Diving Whale." Designs are in bold yellow, black, white, and teal colors. The body of the killer whale is represented by the face, or the spirit of the whale, in the center of the weaving. The head is the two flanking ovals at the lower corners of the face. The mouth is the pointed design below the head. The whale's tail is formed by the two oval shapes at the upper left and right corners of the central face. The lateral panels have designs of ravens facing toward the whale. Long fringe hangs from the bottom in the natural white wool color with two widely spaced rows of twined yellow wool to keep the fringe in place.