Estate of Hazel Wilson

1941 - 2016

Born in 1941, Hazel Wilson grew up at Uttewas (Old Massett) on Haida Gwaii. Known as Jut-ke-Nay in her native Haida language, she was a member of Duugwaa St’Langng 7laanaas clan on the Raven side. When Wilson was 14, she was selected to become a make of appliqued button blankets-ceremonial robes created from melton cloth and decorated with pieces of abalone, copper and pearl buttons. A master of her craft, Wilson went on to make countless robes for friends and relatives. In the early 1970s, she moved with her children to Vancouver, where she continued to create robes both for family members and for the southern market. In 2006, her work was featured in Raven Travelling, a major 200-year retrospective of Haida art presented by the Vancouver Art Gallery. Wilson continued to live and work in Vancouver until her death in 2016.

For the first three decades of her artistic career, Wilson concentrated on making blankets with various family crests, such as frogs and ravens. Although traditional in conception, Wilson’s interpretation of this traditional subject matter was nonetheless distinctive: in addition to buttons, she attached a range of materials to her robes, including pieces of brass, shells from the sea and beadwork. In more recent years, Wilson extended her art to include narrative forms that touch on a range of contemporary concerns. In 2005, she completed a major cycle of 17 blankets chronicling the life and death of the sacred Golden Spruce Tree (K’iid K’iyaas). In 2006, she began work on an even larger series of narrative blankets that record the modern and pre-modern history of the Haida people. Comprising 50 blankets in all, this series of button blankets addresses such politically charged themes as large-scale logging on Haida Gwaii and the devasting impact of small pox in the post-contact era.

Works

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Video Work

The Story of K’iid K’iyaas: An Appreciation

In this filmed interview, Dana Simeon, Hazel Wilson’s daughter, discusses The Story of K’iid...

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Panel Discussion

Conversation with Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas & Robert Kardosh on Hazel Wilson

Marion Scott Gallery director Robert Kardosh and Haida artist and activist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas...

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Related News

Event

BOOK LAUNCH: Glory and Exile: Haida History Robes of Jut-ke-Nay Hazel Wilson

BOOK LAUNCH Glory and Exile: Haida History Robes of Jut-ke-Nay Hazel Wilson SUNDAY, NOVEMBER...

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Offsite Exhibition

Hazel Wilson at the Sainsbury Centre

Six works from Jut-ke-Nay Hazel Wilson’s epic series of Haida history robes are featured...

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News

Hazel Wilson in Beaded Nostalgia at the Bill Reid Gallery

May 18 – October 23, 2022 Bill Reid Gallery Jut-ke-Nay Wilson is one of...

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News

Hazel Wilson Remembered in Vancouver Sun

Written by Kevin Griffin Haida artist Hazel Wilson has died. She was 75. Wilson...

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News

Two Perspectives: Visions of Haida Gwaii Reviewed in Vancouver Sun

Written by Lloyd Dykk On the walls of the Marion Scott Gallery are two...

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News

Hazel Wilson: The Story of K’iid K’iyaas Reviewed in Vancouver Sun

Written by John Vaillant Hazel Wilson’s one woman show of Haida ceremonial robes, The...

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