HAIDA DELORES CHURCHILL BORN—MASTER BASKET WEAVER
Born in Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada (now Haida Gwaii). She attended residential schools that forced her to speak English in place of her native tongue. Delores first studied traditional Haida weaving with her mother, Selina Peratrovich, a nationally recognized master weaver. She was not a serious weaver as a youngster. It was after retiring from bookkeeping and raising her family, when Delores focused on basketry. Haida basket weaving was in serious decline in popularity. She studied traditional Tsimshian weaving from masters Flora Matthew and Brenda White. Churchill further studied at the British Museum and learned the six-strand weave. Delores also taught her niece, Lisa Telford. Awards include: National Heritage Fellowship Award, National Endowment for the Arts; Lifetime Achievement Award, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; and Alaska State Council on the Arts fellowship. Churchill resides in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Source: “Delores Churchill,” ArtsKenai.com. Retrieved 7/26/2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20110707170535/http://www.artskenai.com/gallery_detail.asp?ID=208 Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2017 [Cropped]. Public Domain. Source: USDA Tribal Collaboration Meetings Continue in Southeast Alaska | USDA
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