Chilkat robes are regarded to be the descendant artform of Ravenstail robes, and are practiced in much of the same communities. They are similar in technique but have a few key differences in technique, design, and social positionality. Ravenstail uses a total of nine twining methods while Chilkat uses three, and also has a more muted colour palette. Chilkat robes can use a myriad of colours, and are usually 5 sided instead of rectangles as shown below. Chilkat robes are also not woven continuously with thread ends worked in while weaving, but are rather constructed in separate sections and then brought together. The motifs used are  more organic and fluid as opposed to the geometric designs of the Ravenstail, and are often referred to as “totemic” art.

Spirits and deities in Haida and Tlingit mythos are often incorporated into Chilkat totemic designs. Usually Ravenstail weaving is exclusive to women, but in Chilkat weaving a design board is created by a male community member which is then worked off of by the weaver. Weaving is still passed matrilineally, and the 1895 picture below is the genesis point of one of these prolific lines of weavers. Clara Benson, or Deinḵul.át, was a Tlingit weaver who belonged to an aristocratic family in the G̱aanax̱teidí clan, and was arguably the most sought after creator of regalia and robes in the Northwest region during her lifetime from 1856-1935. A descendant of her teaching lineage, Lilly Hope, is one of about a dozen modern Indigenous weavers who create Chilkat robes. During the beginning of my research, all I knew of Benson was her last name, and that is about all that was known of her, both by researchers and in the wider world, until a biography by Zachary Jones came out in May of this year. One of her robes is still in the posession of The Shangukeidí (Thunderbird Clan) of Klukwan, and it can still be seen dancing and on display during ceremonial events in Southeastern Alaska. That specific robe was worn by the culture-bearer of the clan, and is a testament to both the longevity of these garments as well as their social and political roles within their communities.

Clara Benson weaving a Chilkat robe, 1895.

Naaxein robe woven with mountain goat wool and cedar bark, 1880. Currently in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum.