"Her Daughter's Robe"

Wool fabric, beads, M.O.P. buttons, soutache braid
4.5 ft x 5.5ft
Collection of the Artist
© copyright 2004 by Clarissa Hudson
Contact Clarissa for permission to use image for educational purposes only

I specialize in designing and creating ceremonial regalia, in the hand-woven Chilkat/Ravenstail style and in the button robe style. My very first button blanket-style tunics were made in 1973 when I was 17, under the inspiration and guidance of Harry K. Bremner, Sr., from Yakutat, Alaska. Between 1983 and 2004, I had designed and created at least 40 robes. I realized I hadn’t had a robe for myself yet; I could never make up my mind what kind of robe to make for myself because of so many choices, so I never got anywhere! I wanted something special; something that no one else could have, something that “be-longed.” Frustrated, I finally asked my “Left Hand Corner” for advice. The answer was: “…have your mother do the beadwork for your button blanket…then, you will always have that “something special…” Indeed, my mother’s hand in my robe is truly something special. Here’s an excerpt from my robe journal:

"31 Aug 04
Yesterday in the mail, I received the two seagulls my mother beaded; she was going to also bead the tern in a nest and send it to me, but I told her not to make one for me because I didn’t want her to have to do that since she has about 8 more terns to bead for the rest of the my siblings, neices and childrens' robes. Besides, I wanted to make sure that I have the robe completed (with these crests on the back of my robe) for the grand opening procession of the new National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian on September 21st, 2004. In exchange for doing the beadwork for my robe, I sewed button robes for all my mother’s children and grand-children; we each have a robe with beadwork by our mother, whose name is Irene Loling Sarabia Lampe."

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