{{Short description|Canadian Haida weaver}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Delores E. Churchill | image = Delores E. Churchill.jpg | alt = | caption = Churchill with a partially woven basketry hat, 2006 | native_name = Ilskyaalas | native_name_lang = hai | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1929}} | birth_place = Old Massett, British Columbia, Canada | known_for = Traditional weaving,<br/> language revitalization }}
'''Delores E. Churchill''' ({{langx|hai|Ilskyaalas}}; born 1929)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haidanation.ca/?p=4951 |title=''Edge of the Knife'': Three to the power of all |date=2 May 2017 |publisher=Council of the Haida Nation |accessdate=11 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513011704/http://www.haidanation.ca/?p=4951 |archive-date=13 May 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a First Nations (Haida) artist. She is a weaver of baskets, hats, robes, and other regalia, as well as leading revitalization efforts for Haida, her native language.
==Background== Churchill was born in Massett, Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada in 1929.<ref name="kenai">{{cite web |url=http://www.artskenai.com/gallery_detail.asp?ID=208 |title=Delores Churchill |publisher=Kenai River Council on The Arts |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707170535/http://www.artskenai.com/gallery_detail.asp?ID=208 |date=2003 |accessdate=November 5, 2009 |archivedate=July 7, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kfsk.org/2015/10/15/haida-master-weaver-delores-churchill-shares-her-story/ |title=Haida master weaver Delores Churchill shares her story |first=Angela |last=Denning |date=October 15, 2015 |publisher=KFSK |access-date=July 27, 2017 }}</ref> She first studied traditional Haida weaving with her mother, Selina Peratrovich, who is also a nationally recognized master weaver.
She went on to study traditional Tsimshian weaving from masters Flora Matthew and Brenda White.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arts.wa.gov/folk-arts/master-artists/churchill-delores.shtml |title=Folk Arts: Master Artist Delores Churchill |publisher=Washington State Arts Commission |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183633/https://www.arts.wa.gov/folk-arts/master-artists/churchill-delores.shtml |archivedate=July 24, 2008 |accessdate=April 28, 2019 }}</ref> Churchill further studied at the British Museum and relearned the six-strand weave.<ref name="krbd.org">{{Cite web |url=https://www.krbd.org/2017/05/05/delores-churchill-receives-lifetime-achievement-award/ |title=Delores Churchill honored with Lifetime Achievement Award |first=Maria |last=Dudzak |date=May 5, 2017 |publisher=KRBD |access-date=July 27, 2017 }}</ref> After retiring from a bookkeeping career and raising her family, Churchill turned her attention back to basketry at a time when Haida basket weaving was in serious decline as an art form among younger members of the tribe.<ref name="kenai" /> She taught her niece, Lisa Telford, traditional Haida basket weaving. Additionally Churchill studied ravenstail weaving under Cheryl Samuel.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Holm |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5_TCwAAQBAJ |title=Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form, 50th Anniversary Edition |date=2017-01-03 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-99950-0 |pages=XVII |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haakanson |first=Sven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOF_DQAAQBAJ |title=Creative Alaska: A Ten-Year Retrospective of Support for Alaska Artists, 2004-2013 |last2=Steffian |first2=Amy |date=2016-11-07 |publisher=University of Alaska Press |isbn=978-1-60223-285-3 |pages=16 |language=en}}</ref>
Churchill is an eminent Haida weaver and an expert in gathering and preparing materials for cedar bark, spruce root, and Chilkat weaving. Her artistic influence and knowledge of the art stretches around the globe. Churchill has taught basketry and exhibited her works and has also worked as a researcher and consultant, helping identify works in museum collections.
==Artwork== Churchill is known for her utilitarian and ceremonial objects that often use spruce root, cedar bark, wool, and natural dyes. Some of her artwork is displayed at the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska, where she has also taught courses in basketry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/departments/museums/documents/InstructorBiosforweb.pdf|title = Official Website of the City of Ketchikan, Alaska - Museum}}</ref>
== Haida language revitalization == As one of the few remaining native speakers of Haida, Churchill has fought to share her linguistic heritage. Canada and the United States both suppressed use of the Haida language, especially through forcing Native children to speak English in boarding schools. Churchill was forced by her teachers in the Canadian residential school she attended as a child to speak English and was punished for speaking her own language. Despite these challenges, Churchill has remained adamant in her desire to preserve her native language and frequently works with Haida children and assisted her daughter April Churchill's language revitalization.<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Northwest Coast Weavers |url=http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/baskets/artists/nnwc.html |publisher=Burke Museum |accessdate=11 July 2018 |date=2001}}</ref>
== Awards and honors == Churchill is the recipient of numerous awards, including: * Alaska State Council on the Arts fellowship<ref name="krbd.org"/> * United States Artists Fellowship, 2020<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unitedstatesartists.org/2020-fellows/ |title=2020 Fellows |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=United States Artists |access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref> * Lifetime Achievement Award from the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, 2017<ref name="krbd.org"/> * National Basketry Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 2017 * National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2006<ref name="nhf">{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/delores-elizabeth-churchill|title=Delores Elizabeth Churchill: Haida cedar bark weaver |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=January 6, 2021}}</ref> * Lifetime Fellowship Award, Rasmuson Foundation, 2006 * Connie Boochever Fellowship, 2003 * Governor's Award for the Arts, 2003 * First People's Fund Community Spirit Award, 2002<ref name="nhf"/> * National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Artists Residencies, Hull, Quebec, 1996 * Fellow, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, 1996 * Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, 1991 * The Lisle Fellowship, Art and Culture in Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico, 1991 * Alaska State Legislative Award in recognition of commitment to Native art, 1986
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Delores}} Category:1929 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Native American artists Category:Textile artists from Alaska Category:Weavers from Alaska Category:Artists from British Columbia Category:First Nations basket weavers Category:Canadian basket weavers Category:Haida women artists Category:Haida artists Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:Native American basket weavers Category:American women basket weavers Category:American basket weavers Category:Canadian women textile artists Category:20th-century Native American women Category:21st-century American women Category:First Nations women artists