Mat

The Musqueam, and other Coast Salish peoples, come from a long tradition of weaving. Although contemporary weavers weave for a variety of reasons, several of the weavers at Musqueam have expressed that their weaving enables them to connect with their ancestors and at the same time leave a cultural legacy for future generations. Many weave primarily for personal use and for gifts to family and friends, while others weave as a profession and sell their work to art dealers and museums. In recent years, Musqueam weavers have also received commissions from large corporations, such as Paramount Studios and the Vancouver Airport.

This weaving is part of a larger collection of objects honouring Maggie Pointe, sister of Shane Pointe and Gina Grant. On February 1, 2003, it was used for a memorial potlatch at Musqueam to honour the life of Maggie Pointe and was then given away, as is the custom, to the UBC Museum of Anthropology. On March 18, 2003 it was featured in the exhibit "To Wash Away the Tears," a collaboration between Shane, Gina, MOA and the students of the Critical Curatorial Studies MA program.

mortuary; weaving

Rectangular woven mat with knotted fringe of thick, white wool. The design has blocks of white wool (seventeen rows at top; seventeen rows at bottom), with a block of straight brown weaving (forty-eight rows) in the middle. The mat is slightly wider at the top and bottom, sloping inwards at the middle.