Clam Basket

“Haida Basketry was essential for survival years ago.

I continue the tradition, celebrating the beauty of nature.”

Lisa was born in Ketchikan Alaska in 1957. She comes from a long line of weavers including her grandmother, mother, aunt, cousins (Isabel Rorick) and daughter. Lisa is known for her Gawa Git’ans Git’anee Haida weaving.  Her main inspiration and technique in Haida basketry comes from Delores Churchill. Lisa also does Haida cedar garments, which she learned from Holly Churchill.

Creating a basket goes way beyond the actual weaving. Lisa harvests and prepares her own material, using red and yellow Cedar bark and spruce root. To harvest cedar bark, Lisa is forced to travel to many different locations to find the proper material, and then further hours after that to prepare it for weaving. After all of that, depending on the basket or item each material has to be prepared differently to fit her needs. Traditionally, the bark is stored for a year, then even more process in the treatment of it before she can consider starting to weave.

Combining both contemporary and traditional methods in her weaving, she used two main techniques of twining and plaiting to complete her works. These art pieces consist of baskets, traditional hats, and cedar bark clothing.

Lisa’s baskets can be seen in the collections of The Oregon Historical Society, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, The Heard Museum, The Portland Art Museum and the Burke Museum.