Evelyn Vanderhoop is a Pacific Northwest Coast textile weaver from the Haida Nation. She specializes in weaving the chief's robe of the Haida people. Raven's Tail (northern geometric weaving) and Naaxiin (Chilkat) are the two techniques she teaches and weaves. Since March 2020, Vanderhoop has been documenting her weaving of a Raven’s Tail robe through a series of YouTube videos. While weaving, the artist presents not only the process and techniques for creating her beautiful work, but educates her viewers through stories, recollections, and conversation.
Vanderhoop received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Washington University and has pursued successful parallel careers as a weaver and watercolor artist. She studied watercolor painting in Europe, and one of her paintings was chosen by the United States Postal Service for a stamp to commemorate Native American dance. She has also been chosen as an artist in residence at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. She comes from a long line of Haida weavers, including her grandmother Selina Peratrovich and her mother, Delores Churchill. She has also studied weaving with Cheryl Samuel.
For more information, please see: http://evelynvanderhoopart.blogspot.com and to view the entire, ongoing video series on Youtube.
Evelyn Vanderhoop. Photo: Bernadette Jarrard
Below is a selection from Vanderhoop’s series:
“In this video I demonstrate two color two strand weaving. It is a ravenstail technique where two or four warps are enclosed within each twine depending on the design. I am creating a raven's hood pattern so I also read a Tlingit Raven story collected by John Reed Swanton.”