Hooked on Antique Fishing Lures

A collection of antique fishing lures were hooked into becoming the embellishment to the next button robe designed and created by Clarissa Rizal

A collection of antique fishing lures were hooked into becoming the embellishment to the next button robe designed and created by Clarissa Rizal

I’ve been collecting antique fishing lures from garage sales, antique and 2nd hand stores since 1999.  While fishing with my father off shore at Outer Point back in the early 90’s,  I had this notion that I would create a button blanket to honor my two older brothers and my father who were all commercial fishermen and also to just honor fish in general, especially salmon!  Well 16 years later, my oldest brother and my father are now gone, and the other brother no longer fishes for a living because even that profession has nearly gone by the wayside too.

The salmon are disappearing; when our mother said that years ago, I didn’t want to believe her.  Yet, we who are older than 50 have seen it with our own eyes.  And the waters are so contaminated, that I will eat salmon maybe once a year because even though I crave our fish, I don’t trust what salmon are carrying.

I plan on creating a series of salmon button robes to mourn the loss of our salmon, however also to inspire faith our salmon will one day return in great numbers — maybe not in our lifetime, but possibly in our grand-children’s lifetime.  If you, dear reader, come across antique fishing lures like those above, bring them to my attention so I can fetch them OR better yet, send them my way to my Alaska address or Colorado address – either way they will get to me!  Thank you!

Clarissa Rizal Announces Her New Website!

Northwest Coast Tlingit graduation cap designed by Clarissa Rizal painted and modeled by Ursala Hudson --  2014

Northwest Coast Tlingit graduation cap designed by Clarissa Rizal painted and modeled by Ursala Hudson at her BA graduation — 2014

I have a new website with a few new tweaks to my blog, just launched last week on April 13th; I HAVE GRADUATED to a simpler, cleaner, and easy-to-navigate format to update:  It’s time to celebrate!  (Most artists that I know would rather spend their time creating instead of working on the computer, so the easier and faster computer time, the better for us all…!)

This is my fourth website since 1998; the first was created by my friend Cecil Touchon (www.ceciltouchon.com) nearly 20 years ago when there were not very many Native American artists’ websites.

I have been blogging since July 2010, nearly 5 years!  Unlike the past blog entries randomly posted when I could fit in the work, I will post new blog entries 3/x weekly with this schedule:

  • on Mondays and Thursdays and Saturdays by 12 midnight (Alaska, Pacific or Mountain time — all depends on where my business travel takes me!).

Blog posts will include the usual latest projects, art business travel, tools of the trade, people, classes, health topics, etc., though to continue helping out my fellow weavers in a more efficient manner, I have added a new section to my categories (column on the right) called “Tricks-of-the-Trade.”

All photographs on my website and blog were shot by myself unless otherwise noted.

  • For over 20 years, most of the photographs of my button robes and my chilkat weavings were taken by professional photographer Jeff Laydon at www.pagosaphotography.com.
  • I make an effort to give credit to any other  photographers.
  • Thank you to my ceremonial robe models the late Russ Eagle and my grand-daughter Amelie Haas.
  • My friend Russ had been modeling for me for nearly 15 years until his passing in 2009.
  • Five-year-old Amelie had her debut this past March modelling my “Chilkat Child” 5-piece weaving ensemble.

I have begun formatting my photographs larger; people want to SEE!

  • I also will aim towards shooting more interesting shots, maybe at different angles
  • maybe I’ll even tweak them too, because I CAN!
  • Click photos on my website to enlarge; the blog photos are what they are
  • Ursala says I ought to buy myself a SLR camera to produce better photos, though at this time I cannot afford spending $500-$1000.
  • Blogs and websites are much more interesting with better photography and golly, shooting from my old iPhone I guess just doesn’t tickle anybody’s fancy does it!
  • Hold on, dear readers, the money for a real camera will come some day!

As time permits, I will be adding one more topic to my website:  a “Tributes” page to honor  mainly Tlingit elders who have helped me on my path as a full-time Tlingit artist for nearly 40 years.  My “Tributes” page will include those of have passed including:

  • grandparents, Juan and Mary Sarabia
  • parents William and Irene Lampe
  • very first mentor/teacher Tlingit chief from Yakutat, Harry K. Bremner, Sr. who gave me my very first sewing lessons along with Tlingit song and dance instruction, and
  • mentor/teacher of Chilkat weaving, Jennie Thlunaut
  • my apprenticeship with Jennie Thlunaut

Thank you to my daughter, Ursala Hudson for working hard last weekend to create and launch  my website by my deadline!  Check Ursala’s graphic design/web design work on her website at:  www.whiterabbitstudio.us

Birthday Bio

Clarissa_&Kids

Clarissa and her children, Ursala, Lily and Kahlil – July 2011

A couple of weeks ago, one of my apprentices asked me if I would write a bio of myself that explained when I began to do my art and why.  She said she had to choose someone who had influenced her life to become an artist; she choose me.  This was an assignment she needed to present at her art class.  My initial response was “Gee, I inspired her to become an artist?  But I don’t want to write about me, it is so boring to go back that far and talk about who, what where when and why…”  However, I gave her my word that I would do this for her that night.  So, I “set the stage” with low lighting and a cup of tea; I do this whenever I have to write about my personal life to help me focus with very little struggle – then with very little editing, the words just flowed from my head down through to the keyboard onto the computer screen.  Here’s what came…

19 January 2015

Sitting in the direct heat of the fake firelight of the electric Amish heater in my studio, always bundled in my sheepskin coat, sheepskin boots and hat because the heating device is not large enough to heat this one room where I work and sleep, I am never quite warm in Winter, though it’s better than being outside right now with 0 degree starlit snow. I reflect upon my life as an artist and wonder where it all started and if living the life of a full-time artist, especially now in a place without running water, without sewer, and without sufficient heat, was and continues to be, worth it.

No matter what age, for the past 59 years, I’ve always been a child of creativity, with a drive that is endless. I exist on 6 hours sleep a night; from the time my eyes are awakened by the early dawn until I suddenly stagger to my bed 18 hours later; like I am going-going-going, then gone! It’s only in the past couple of years that I realized that not everyone is like this; where have I been?

38 years ago today, my first child Kahlil was born, named after Kahlil Gibran who wrote many inspiring books including The Prophet, Spirits Rebellious, and my favorite The Broken Wings.  Spiritually-inclined at a very young age, anything written about Christ had to be read; any paintings, prints and photos of Jesus had to be studied, so natural it was to read all of Gibran’s works when I was a young adult. And even though in the western way of living having a child at 20 was considered young, it was natural for me to think it normal because our Tlingit culture had the wisdom to know children are a gift of God.

My parents guided me into the way they were conditioned to get a “real job” to secure a pension plan to retire in 40 years.  This worked for a little while.  From the age of 14 to 20 I had real jobs working as a librarian assistant, a home-health aid for the elderly, a clerk typist for the Governor and for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Contracting, until of course Kahlil was born. Being a new mother was challenging; I was not a natural-born mother because I was such a tom-boy and it was next to impossible to stay indoors day in and day out while the baby napped, I had to keep up with the diaper changes and laundry, and he had to be nursed every 2 hours 24-7! Holy cow!

To keep my sanity I turned to gardening; it got me outdoors yet close to home! I turned to drawing, crocheting and sewing. While he took his naps, and directly after putting the entire household to bed each night, I’d stay awake ‘till at least midnight, creating; it was my therapy! During the raising of my three children, I made a living over the next decades in a variety of ways: besides designing and making Tlingit ceremonial regalia in button blanket, Chilkat and Ravenstail weavings, I was an entrepreneur before I knew what that meant.  I made hats, I sewed custom-made clothing, created costumes for local theatre companies, owned a landscape gardening company, and was co-owner of an online newspaper.  In the 70s and early 80s, I took up learning our traditional arts from some of the best artists of their time: carving, regalia-making, traditional song and dance, metal-smithing, basketry, Chilkat and Ravenstail weaving. Just before my children were grown up and gone I had created a name for myself as one of the few, if not the only, Tlingit women who has been a full-time artist working in all of the above mediums for nearly 40 years, all in the name of keeping my sanity and being a stay-at-home-self-employed-mother because I did what my mother recommended I do: stay home with my children.

In a few years I will be 65; do I see myself retiring soon? No way. I have no pension plan; I have no savings; and I surely do not have an inheritance.   I cannot afford to retire. And what would I retire to!? Would I retire to taking vacations? What for?…vacations are boring; I don’t want to relax – relaxing is a lot of work! Would I retire to volunteering at something?   I been there done that volunteering all my life with the house concerts I used to produce in my own home; with the children’s theatre I used to co-produce; with the art shows and classes I used to teach, just to name a few.   Would I retire to what most people retire to? Watching TV from the couch. What for? Is that really fun, is it productive, is it creative, does it do anyone any good? The only results I see from watching TV is weight gain—too much potato chips!

Would I retire to what some of us retire to? Art and music.

Hello? I am already there; I have been creating art and playing music all my adult life. Does this mean I’ve been retired all my life?   Hmmm…an interesting perspective.

It looks like I will continue doing what I have been doing for almost 40 years.  Why change now?  I’m in the groove.

My children now have families of their own. Each of my children and their spouses are self-employed artists. I have watched them struggle with making ends meet like the way their father and I made ends meet never knowing where our next paycheck would come from and if next month’s bills would get paid. I watch them live like I have, not afford brand new cars, not take any vacations, not have the latest styles of clothing, all the while living with tension about the ability to keep a roof over their heads, mouths fed, and clothing clean. However, there’s a sense of pride and awe that I feel when I see the fact that they stay at home with their children, making wholesome meals from scratch, tending to a flourishing garden, doing their “art” and their little kids “working” right alongside them: happy. These are values I did not realize were taught to them by my own example, someone who has passionate creativity, a drive that has always been driven, at the edge.

Kahlil is a professional film-maker/director who also teaches film a couple of days a week at the Institute of American Indian Arts; his wife Miki is a counselor at the Santa Fe Arts Academy; their 7-year-old Violet enjoys chess tournaments, sewing, ice-skating, gymnastics and basketball. Lily is an award-winning, professional storyteller/actress and also a Ravenstail/Chilkat weaver and teacher; her husband Ishmael is also a professional storyteller/actor, excellent writer who recently published his first book of poetry. They have four children who are being home-schooled. Ursala is an oil painter, block-print maker, graphic artist/web designer, and is president of a local Charter school she is starting; her husband Chris is a lead singer/songwriter in his band, a sculptor and a house painter.  Their two daughters are obviously following their footsteps!  My children and grandchildren live fully.

To my best of my ability, I live a life of integrity. I keep watch of what I do to see what I believe. My offspring and my work is love made visible. I follow my heart because my heart follows the source of creativity that inspires me and continues to drive me. I am old enough to look back upon my life and enjoy it a second time around. All my relations, my parents, my children and their children are proof of the legacy that I co-created and will leave. And when I leave, my conscious will be clear and free, knowing all that I loved and lived, was worth it.

Handling a Large Box for the Airlines

CloseUpHandles

Duck tape the padded “handles” of the loose straps

When I travel back and forth by plane from Colorado to Alaska, or vice versa, I have never traveled light.  I am always loaded with my work, supplies, fish, berries, etc.  Many years ago, my father showed me this trick-of-the-loaded-traveler-trade.

Nowadays, with “homeland security” and all, wrapping our boxes with rope is futile; they just cut the rope off, cut open your box, and inspect it.  I don’t want to waste my rope.  But how do we still have our handles and use them too?

Instead of tightly wrapping your box, just make two loose-fitting straps with rope, duck tape the ends with extra tape wrapped around as show in photo.  Remove the loose straps before you check your box into baggage; place your straps inside your suitcase pocket, or your carry-on.  Bring them out when you arrive at your destination’s baggage claim, slip them back around your box, and get moving!

FullImage

Easy to lift and maneuver heavy 3′ x 4′ box

I am pushing 60 and I weight 125 pounds.  With this method I can easily maneuver a 60 pound bulky box!  Thanks Dad!

My Son’s “Low and Clear” Screens at Local Juneau Theatre

Clarissa’s son, Kahlil Lampe Hudson, Skyping on the big screen with Q&A directly after his film “Low and Clear” at the Nickelodean Theatre in Juneau, Alaska

Kahlil’s documentary “Low and Clear” finally screened in Juneau with two showings on Saturday, August 3rd.  Kahlil and friend Tyler Hughen, co-directed and co-produced the film which has made its rounds in the film festival circuit around the nation and world, including Amsterdam, Canada and Australia.  For a trailer on the film, you may visit his website at:  http://www.lowandclear.com/

In the audience, Kahlil’s old-time friend, Jesse Tabor, son of the late Buddy Tabor, and Kahlil’s sister, Lily Hope

The cinematography in this film is exquisite.  Sure you can call me biased because I am his mother, but I am making this statement because it is in no doubt, true.  If anything, don’t believe me but see for yourself; watch the film for its photography of nature and the sense of no-slap-stick-humor displayed throughout the film.

On my way up a mountain in Haines to pick berries, I ran into friends who told me that Kahlil’s film was filming this evening at the Nickelodean.  What?  Kahlil didn’t tell his mother?  Determined to pick blue berries still, I decided that I would do both:  pick berries for a few hours, then get on a plane from Haines to Juneau to see the film this night and return back to Haines the next morning.  Seems ridiculous but what how could a mother not see the official screening of her son’s film in their own home town?  Hello?  I knew that if I didn’t do whatever it took to get on that flight, I would have regret it and I prefer to live my life with as few regrets as possible.

When I first saw the film on big screen with Dan during the film festival in Telluride, Colorado, we sat in the front seat, in total awe.   Viewing the film again for the second time in Juneau was just as awesome with additional excitement this time with the anticipation that the audience would be able to communicate with Kahlil via Skype.

In the opening scene and throughout certain places of the film, I thought of my father and mother.  Like I said, the cinematography is exquisite and it brought me to tears.  I know my parents would have been proud to see the talents of their first-born grandchild’s accomplishment.  I had so wished they were alive to see this film on two fishermen and their ways of fishing.

My father was an avid troller fisherman in Alaska.  He was a fisherman in the Philippines where he was born but when he moved to Alaska, he started to fish in the Gulf of Alaska near Kodiak.  Then in 1955, he headed down to Excursion Inlet/Haines/Hoonah/Juneau area.  He fished all of his life.  I would love to have seen the expressions on his face and my mother’s face if they saw Kahlil’s film. C’est la vie!

Go ahead and order the film from Kahlil and Tyler’s website, or even check it out on Netflix if you must see it right away.   I suggest you watch it on the biggest screen you can so you can absorb the magnificence of the water scenes.

Click here to read the Juneau Empire article introducing the film.

1st Mother’s Day Without Her

Irene and William Lampe - December 1955 - my mother is pregnant with her first daughter, Clarissa Rizal Lampe

Irene passed away last year on the 4th of July; she was 86 years old.  This is the first Mother’s Day without her; somehow as much as I tried to feel okay about this day with my family members, I couldn’t help but feel melancholy – it was always such a special day when our mother was alive.  And even though I am not only a mother of 3 but a grandmother of 4, I’m not in any mode to celebrate myself in that role.  I must look for another element…I’ll celebrate my daughters as mothers.

Never Too Old to Live in a Dorm (part-time!)

Half of the dorm room; notice the hummel and ukelele on the wall - playing music helps survive the academia and four walls - the other half of the room is occupied by my Italian roommate

24 years ago, after my last child was born, I took a few classes at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe – it was my way of “getting out of the house” without taking any responsibilities with me except those that I carried in regards to schooling.   Then I was not interested in achieving a degree so I took fun classes.  However, I’ve raised my family on my art income without a back-up “real” job and I thought it’s time to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts; in this way I have the balance of the Indigenous and Western credentials.  Why is it important to have that balance?  To gain more understanding of the complexities of living in a cross-cultural world.

The Center for Lifelong Learning at the Institute of American Indian Arts

At first, I scoffed at the concept of having to take the requirement classes in Drawing I & II, Geometry, Intro to Indigenous Studies, Contemporary Art, Native Art History I & II, English Composition I & II, etc. — yadda, yaddie, yaddue!  Like golly, Holy Moses, do I have to take stuff I pretty much already know!?  Friends of mine thought that with my status as a full-time artists for three decades, I ought to be a teacher at IAIA, not a student!  Often I had wondered what the heck am I doing wasting my time getting stupid credentials.  Yet, I’ve discovered how much I DON’T KNOW and how much fun it is to go through the assignments and learn additional stuff!  We humans are so doggone arrogant and funny!

Easy walks on IAIA campus

At IAIA, we either gain weight because of the astounding food at the cafeteria, or we lose weight because IAIA is an easy campus to walk.  Up on a mesa, it has 360 degree views of spectacular skies and faraway mountains.  Although a biting cold in Winter, it’s sunny about 395 days of the year.  And for those of us coming from Southeast Alaska, well…although the countryside lacks the dramatics of the big spruce, hemlock, alders and cedars, there is an ancient silence in the high-country deserts of the Southwest.  As any of us Indigenous peoples know, go out onto the land and feel its gifts.  There is the everlasting to appreciate.

Sweatlodge skeleton at IAIA; in use during the late Fall/Winter/Spring - what other 4-year accredited college are you aware of that conducts sweatlodge ceremonies?

There is a footpath for runners and walkers alike on campus.  I don’t remember how many acres belong to IAIA, but it’s enough to continue growing.  Hopefully, as IAIA grows its campus, the designers will always keep in mind our need to be connected to the earth, especially for many of us who are missing our homelands and require being outside — feeling the earth beneath our feet and enjoying the horizon.

Courtyard of the sculputure building at IAIA -- If I am not mistaken, this monumental, marble sculpture is by Craig Dan Goyesun - behind bars, the courtyard gate was locked. I thought this an interesting image.

IAIA is a unique environment.  I hadn’t come to appreciate its qualities until this past Fall Semester.  There is an Indigenous Studies department that was added to the “normal” Western curriculum of IAIA.  Some of the classes from this department are requirements for a BFA.  As  mentioned earlier, I resisted taking the requirements, yet I discovered how much I don’t know and better yet, I discovered how much I want to learn!  I am actually considering achieving a Minor in Indigenous Studies.  We’ll see what transpires within this next year.

The Chama River near Abiqui, New Mexico - October 2011

I commute from my studio home in Colorado to IAIA.  The 3-hour drive is one of the most scenic in North America (2nd best to that drive from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Haines, Alaska!).  The drive enables me to relax, listen to Van Morrison’s “Listen to the Lion” and books on tape.

The Chama River with first snow - December 2011

I drive through Geronimo’s Apache homeland and “Georgia O’Keefe” country.  Although the high-country desert is a vast difference from the rainforest of my homeland in Southeast Alaska, I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the beauty both environments have to offer.  I am privileged to have the option to experience these kinds of freedoms in America.

Looking towards "Ghost Ranch" of Georgia O'Keefe country during first snow - December 2011

Many years ago, my mother and father, Irene and William Lampe, encouraged me to get a degree; they said it’s the way to “get ahead” and understand living in the Western world.  My mother said that back when she was young if she had the grant opportunities we have now, she’d have gone to school and she often wondered what her life would have been like.  On behalf of my parents, I’d like to thank the following Grantors for their support:

*  Chugach Heritage Foundation  *  Sealaska Heritage Institute  *  Tlingit & Haida Central Counil  *  Huna Heritage Foundation  * Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and  *  FAFSA

An Eternal Friendship With My Mamma

Irene and Clarissa at Celebration 2000

My mother passed away yesterday on a day of freedom, Independence Day, the 4th of July.  I know my mother has been liberated from the restraint of her aged, wretched body.  After intense suffering since the passing of our father over two years ago, including the recent passing of a son three months ago, she’s now a free woman.   8 days prior, she turned 86.

Irene with Clarissa and younger brother, Timothy - Summer 1958

Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe was born June 25, 1925 in Port Althorp, a place that doesn’t exist anymore, near Hawk Inlet.  She was born during her family’s  Summer fish camp to Juan and Mary Sarabia.  They spent their winters protected from the cold North winds in the small village of Hoonah, near Glacier Bay.  Eventually her parents worked Summer months at the Excursion Inlet Packing Co. (XIP); and in 1955 while working at the cannery, she met and married my father, William Lampe on August 20th.  Nine months later, I was born.  My parents dispute over my name.  I would have been named Kate if I were born on June 5th, my mother’s eldest sister Katherine Mills’ birthday; or, I would have been named Patricia (i.e. Pat), after my father’s mother Patricia Rizal Lampe if I were born any other day other than June 5th.   However, the day before I was born, my father dreamt a girl would be born to them and her name was Clarissa, a name he had never heard before.

William B. Lampe & Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe model the Eagle & Raven button blanket robes made by their daughter Clarissa - 1987 - collection of Tlingit & Haida Central Council offices, Juneau

Irene helps sew the button blanket wall mural "Following Our Ancestors' Trail" - 1992 - Private Collection, Austin, Texas

Most of her adult life, our mother helped support our family by working for various state and local agencies including the State Department of Education, Department of Health & Social Services, the Department of Revenue and Tlingit & Haida Central Council.  A year after she retired in 1990, she said she didn’t know how she got all the things done that needed to get done when she worked a “real job.”  She enjoyed traveling with her husband, hosting her grandchildren overnight, sewing quilts, crocheting afghans, taking daily walks and getting back to her bead work.  She said she learned how to bead work when she was 5 (I have that 5-year-olds’ first beadwork), and that it felt good to get back to beading after almost a 60-year absence.

Sewing a beaded eagle for the back of her husband's vest - June 2005

One day I realized that I didn’t have a button blanket of my own.   (Uh, huh.  You are most likely thinking about the shoemaker who doesn’t make his own shoes and goes barefoot.  Yep.  That’s what I had been –  over 20 years as a regalia-maker of robes for others, but not for myself nor family – yup!)  Because I could create any kind of robe I wanted, from a Chilkat robe to a Ravenstail robe to a button blanket, I asked what kind of robe would I make for myself, and the answer was:  “…you design the robe, coordinate the colors to match your tunic (I inherited in 1976 from my maternal Uncle Leonard Davis) and have your mother do the bead work; it will then hold special meaning for you…”  – of course, why didn’t I think of that long time ago!? –  The robe is made with deep red and deep brilliant blue melton cloth of 100% wool, antique, carved Mother-of-Pearl buttons, and machine-embroidered braid.  The bead work and designs were sewn by my mother; I sewed the robe and did the embellishments with the embroidered braid and buttons.     Below are images and details of the robe.

Clarissa's Black-legged Kittywake T'akDeinTaan button blanket robe - a collaboration with mother Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe who did all the bead work, and Clarissa designed and sewed the robe - 2005

*(For many our clan assumed the emblem as the common Seagull, and for many years I had questioned and doubted our clan emblem as a Seagull because the beaded representation of our  clan designs was a bird that had a golden beak, black markings towards the tip of its wings and if there were legs portrayed in the design, they were black; plus, there was generally two birds hovering above a nest – to indicate that the nature of the bird:  both parents raise their young.   Due to my sister Irene Jean Lampe’s research a several years ago, we are now on the right track of the true identity of our clan emblem of the Black-legged Kittywake T’akDeinTaan.).

Small sea bird commonly dwells on cliffs near glaciers called the"Black-legged Kittywake" - Clan emblem to the Alaskan Tlingit T'akDeinTaan - beaded by Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe for her daughter Clarissa's robe - 2005

Close-up of the carved, antique Mother-of-Pearl buttons placed on the machine-embroidered braid along the borders of the button robe - Clarissa Rizal - 2005

When I put together the robe, I felt a need to “give back” to my mother.  What could I do to repay her for the hours and talent she put into my robe?  She would not take money from me.  So I left the “debt” wide open until the idea came a year later when we were looking through her large box of all the bead work she had created over the course of 15 years since she retired in 1990; she had beaded flowers of all sorts and sizes and she had beaded at least 10 of the Black-legged Kittywakes.   Suddenly, the idea popped into my head:  “…sew up button robes for all of your Mother’s children and grand-children and place her bead work on each robe…”  She loved the idea.  This project ended up being a collaboration between mother, daughter and granddaughter; I sewed the robes, daughter Lily sewed the buttons, and we sewed down Mom’s bead work on each robe.  We also sewed a couple more octopus bags fashioned after the one (on the right) that my mother had sewn.  A weaving apprentice Julia Sai Carlson, had helped attach Mom’s bead work to the bags too.   I had never sewn octopus bags before; it was fun.  All the bead work was designed and sewn by our Mother.  Below are the three octopus bags with Irene’s bead work.

The Octopus bags - August 2005 - collection of Robert Lampe's family

After my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary dinner on August 20, 3005, we went to their house to do a family ceremony of “bringing out the robes.”  My parent’s children and grand-children were present.  My mother gave a speech; it was an emotional time for her.  (She had said she is not a public speaker – not even in front of her own family.)  I was proud of our Mother.  She spoke of how she kept the old bead work patterns that were once her Mother’s (Mary Wilson Sarabia), she mentioned that each robe had our clan emblem, the Black-legged Kittywake T’akDeinTaan, or a beaded raven (for our brother, Robert); she hoped that each of us would keep our robes long after she was gone.  Directly after her speech, our sister Irene Jean sang and drummed a Tlingit song, and for the first time in our family, we witnessed all our family members dancing together; it was a thing of beauty, we laughed together.  I felt this was a significant moment in our family’s life.  My parents beamed.

We honored our parent's 50 years of marriage, with new robes for all the children and grandchildren - August 2005

Also, as part of our parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary, we took a 3-day trip to Excursion Inlet.  Included in our entourage was my sister Dee, my kids Kahlil and Lily, my apprentice Julia and myself.  We joined our brother Rick, cousins Janie, Linda and 2nd cousins Thomas and Lydia.  I have fond memories of spending a few Summers in Excursion Inlet when I was a child; it was a good feeling to hear stories of my parent’s days as young adults – it was good for my own children to experience the place and to hear the stories.  We tend to forget that old people were once young.

William and Irene walking the "boardwalk" in Excursion Inlet - the cannery village where they first met in 1955 - He was a fisherman with his own seiner and had stopped there for the Summer, she worked in the cannery - August 2005

Another thing my mother incorporated into her life as soon as she retired was a daily walk.  No, not just a walk around the block, but a real walk!  Years of working at a “normal” job kept her in the condition of waking at 5am, so by 6am she was ready to go.  From the age of 65, she began walking at least 6 miles a day.   Sometimes she would walk with her friend, Lillian Austin.  Sometimes she walked with another friend, Rachel Carpenter.   She paced a steady rythym.  I remember a time about 10 years ago, when she was 76, our brother Bunny met us at the Hoonah ferry terminal and we walked into town.  At one point, we noticed she was walking way ahead of us; none of her kids nor husband kept up with her pace!  The following photos are a few places where we walked…

Walking the Flume - July 2007

Walking the Juneau tour ship dock...June 2007

Walking Auke Bay...August 2007

Taking a rest on the Dan Moller Trail...2001

Starting in 2005, my parents began to ask me when I would move back home, so in 2007 I moved up to Juneau for about 7 months.  During this time we took a couple of ferry trips; one to Hoonah (and my father hadn’t been there for over 30 years), and the ferry to Skagway to drive up to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (a place they would pass through when they took their annual Summer drive into the Yukon and interior of Alaska.)  I also took my parents on day trips in Juneau they hadn’t been in many, many years like the Lena Loop picnic area, Auke Bay, Eagle Beach, Echo Cove, Thane Road, Evergreen Bowl, Twin Lakes and Sandy Beach; and to places they had never been like The Flume and the Treadwell Mine.  I knew then what is confirmed now:  Forever I will cherish the Spring/Summer of 2007  – the time I made to enjoy with my parents.

William & Irene walk the Treadwell Mine Trail...July 2007

About 20+ years ago, my father, who was an avid gardener, had too many packets of daisy seeds.  (I say “too many” cuz I quote my Mom.)   During those years, my Mother walked Twin Lakes often with the family dog, Nick.  One day she took several packets of the daisy seeds and sprinkled them on the banks between the highway and the Twin Lakes path.  Over the years, the daisies have naturally spread their seeds.  Right now, the daisies are in full bloom.  The following two photos are of my parents during one of our walks back in 2007.  During this walk, Mom and I told Dad the story of her sprinkling the seeds which resulted in the entire banks covered with daisies.  As we walked the path, although my father’s response was an “Umph”, my mother and I knew he was proud of her.   My Mother smiled quietly; she was very happy to be walking the path with her husband.

Irene walking Twin Lakes admiring all the daisies she "planted" many,many years ago...July 2007

William & Irene walking Twin Lakes - notice the expressions on their faces - he commented "hmmmm....I guess that's pretty good" - and she all along smiled with a spirit of satisfaction and pride...July 2007

Irene's of late walking shoes and cane - July 4, 2011

In 1996, I designed and created a leather button blanket style robe in honor of my mother Irene Lampe, in honor of mothers around the world, and in honor of our Mother Earth.  It is called “Mother Earth Child.”   The circle is the earth and the womb; inside the “womb” a mother tenderly embraces a child, the child tenderly touches the lips while listening to the mother.   The circle of human hands represents the constructive and destructive nature of mankind.  The robe is made of forest green leather machine-sewn appliqued upon turquoise leather with antique Mother-of-Pearl buttons.  The turquoise represents the ocean and sky; the green represents the land.

The robe is currently displayed in the Hilton Hotel lobby in Juneau; it is part of the permanent collection of  Native art of Goldbelt, Inc.  I wasn’t sure about selling this robe to be displayed in a public art setting.  Yet, as I am writing about this topic, I realize the robe in a public setting can be a reminder to all of us how important our mothers are.

Sewing the leather button robe in honor of my mother, "Mother Earth Child" on the 1935 Singer machine - August 1996

When my mother turned 70 in 1995, I felt it was time to honor my relationship with her; I began drafting out this design.  My mother and I were not just mother and daughter; we were friends.  I cannot remember a time when we had any disputes or discord between us (except maybe when I was a teenager and she worried about me like most parents do with teenage children!).   She was always respectful of me even though she did not always agree with some of the decisions I made in my life and I was respectful of her even though I may not have agreed with some of the decisions she made in her life.  Our mother was kind and generous to all of us.  She watched out for us, protected us, guided us and she had a great sense of humor.   Like most parents, she was always “watching our back” even to her very last day.  Even though she is no longer in physical form, I think she will still be watching our back.  Our mother loved us.

I will greatly miss our mother.  Yet, as long as I live and my memory remains good, I will continue to have a lifelong friendship with my Mamma.

In honor of Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe: "Mother Earth Child" - copyright Clarissa Rizal - 1996 - collection of Goldbelt, Inc., Juneau

A Chilkat Weaver’s Room

I immediately took this shot 2 months ago when I moved in and set up my new temporary space. Nope, I didn't plan on having the black leather loveseat match the Tibetan rug match the turquoise couch match the bench match the yellow metal set of drawers match the Chilkat robe - it "grew" organically!

One of the first things I do when I move into a space is set it up comfortably, make the space “flow” and make it aesthetically pleasing; then, I place my loom where it feels best with the natural light being one of the major determining factors for its location.  As a young child, my father always encouraged me to “make it look nice.”  He encouraged me to take care of my surroundings, be clean, neat, organized, tidy,…and, make it beautiful.    I’m not sure if I was already born with the capacity to design and create an aesthetically pleasing, workable space, or if I learned it.  But, I enjoy creating spaces.  I’ve even helped some of my friends’ do remakes in their homes.  It’s fun.  And a funny thing, every time I am designing or re-designing a space, I think of my father’s words.

The Chilkat robe on the loom is called “Jennie Weaves An Apprentice”  – it is a tribute the apprenticeship with my weaving teacher, the late Jennie Thlunaut from Klukwan, Alaska  – it’s the first of my series of robes I call “A Robe Within A Robe.”

Christmas Tree at the top of Thunder Mountain

There's a Christmas tree near the top of Thunder Mountain

(Where’s Thunder Mountain?  It’s the mountain that separates the Mendenhall Glacier River Valley and the Lemon Creek River valley in Juneau, Alaska.)

See that slightly dark indentation to the left of the two humps at the top of this mountain?  Just to the left of that indentation, my father said there was (going to be) a Christmas tree up there.  This is pretty much the view from the living room window of his house where he lay on the couch two years ago in October 2008.  He was “on his way out” with colon cancer.  Once a week he would repeat:  “…lots of snow,…wow, lots of snow…we’re going to have lots of snow this year…”  Sure enough by mid-December 2008, right about the time of his passing, the Western States and the Northwest Coast had record-breaking snowfalls.  I remember spending an entire month shoveling snow every day keeping the walkway, driveway, rooftops and vehicles free of snow.  Many of us were literally snowed in.

So when my father said there (would be) a Christmas tree near the top of Thunder Mountain, I want to believe him.  I cannot see it from where I stand, yet I betcha if I squint hard enough, small colorful  lights will appear on one of them trees!