Haida basketmaker, 94, releases book about her life and craft

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Delores Churchill’s ‘From a Square to a Circle: Haida Basketry’ has been decades in the making and features family stories as well as a how-to guide on weaving.

Churchill has long held the knowledge passed down from her mother and Elders while inspiring new weavers to take up the art. In the book, she reflects on her life’s journey and offers a how-to guide for readers about the craft.

“When I first started thinking of writing the book, there were only three Haida people who were weaving in Alaska,” Churchill told IndigiNews in an interview, the creak of her rocking chair audible over the phone.

“I felt so strongly that the weaving art should continue.”

Churchill didn’t know where to begin, but she knew she had to start somewhere.

“I used to write it in a yellow notepad,” she said about starting the book in the late 1980s. After the notepad started getting too thick, she bought an early-model computer and began typing the stories out.

Now, 35 years after she started jotting her knowledge and stories, the book is finally finished and being released through Harbour Publishing.

Delores Churchill’s From a Square to a Circle: Haida Basketry is available now.

https://indiginews.com/arts/haida-baske ... -and-craft