Cedar Baskets by Janice Alton

Janice Alton, Cedar Weaver

Status First Nations, Coast Salish (Cowichan/Capilano) and European ancestry

“I weave ideas into creations from the inner bark of the Western Red Cedar.”

I am a mixed heritage cedar weaver, born in Victoria, BC, and raised on W’SANEĆ and Lekwungen territories (Saanich Peninsula and Oak Bay). I have been weaving since early 2020. I have completed up to 175 weaving projects so far in my weaving journey.

My inspiration to learn to weave came from viewing the baskets woven by my maternal great-great grandmother, Maralee Howiowaat (Louisa Silva). Her baskets, which are over 100 years old, can be viewed at the museum on Gabriola Island.

Called Xpa’ay in Cowichan Hul’q’umi’num and XPÁ in SENĆOŦEN (the W’SANEĆ dialect), cedar is the sacred tree of life to the people of the Northwest Coast, as historically it provided so very many of the items necessary to survive in the region. Canoes, house posts and planks, clothing, medicine, household items, ceremonial artwork and regalia were all made from the wood, bark, roots and withes of the tree. Cedar was harvested in a sustainable manner which allowed the trees to heal and live on after the bark was stripped for clothing and household items, or planks were cut from them for housing. Cedar has traditionally sustained coastal people since time immemorial.

Harvesting, processing and weaving cedar is an ancestral practice which grounds me and is environmentally sustainable. I harvest my cedar from the forest in W’SANEĆ territories where I was raised, so each woven item carries a special sentimentality.