TLINGIT WEAVER CHAS’ KOOWU TLA’A (TERI ROFKAR) BORN
Born in San Rafael, California, Rofkar was introduced as a child to Tlingit weaving by her maternal grandmother, Eliza Moses Mork. She also learned from Delores Churchill (Haida), Ernestine Hanlon-Abel (Tlingit) and Cheryl Samuel (Ravenstail). Teri harvested and wove using traditional Tlingit methods and saw the pure science and math in Tlingit art. Beginning in 2003, Rofkar studied at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with the aim of broadening awareness of traditional Tlingit art and science. “Perhaps one of her great gifts and insights was to define this life and place and people as relationships rather than resources,” her family wrote. Her awards include: National Endowment for the Arts, Living Cultural Treasure (2009); Rasmuson Distinguished Artist award (2013); honorary doctorate in fine arts, University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka (2015); and induction into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame (2017). She died December 2, 2016 in Alaska.
Source: "Teri Rofkar," Daily Sitka Sentinel, 12/7/2016. Retrieved 7/14/2019, http://www.sitkasentinel.com/7/2012-05-10-22-08-43/obituaries/10824-teri-rofkar Photo: Courtesy of Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame
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