Merle Andersen
San’laa gudgaang
Haida Weaver & Regalia Artist
Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Canada)

“I like working with cedar bark and spruce root. When a project is finished, I feel very proud. I used to help my mother harvest roots and bark, but only became interested in weaving in 1994 when my sister Ginny (Virginia) Hunter offered to teach me. I left it for a couple of years, but started weaving again in 1996.

“Harvesting and preparation of the material are the hardest part of weaving and very time consuming.”

At right: Skein of prepared cedar bark.