KTOO

Alaska Native Arts & Culture | Arts & Culture | Southeast

Innovative Tlingit weaver was internationally renowned for baskets, textiles

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Sitka resident and Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar takes staff from the National Museum of the American Indian up Blue Lake Road last year. The group was in town for field study, learning about the origins of many of the objects they keep track of in Washington, D.C. Rofkar passed away Friday, Dec. 2, 2016. (Photo by Ed Ronco/KCAW )
Sitka resident and Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar takes staff from the National Museum of the American Indian up Blue Lake Road last year. The group was in town for field study, learning about the origins of many of the objects they keep track of in Washington, D.C. Rofkar passed away Friday, Dec. 2, 2016. (Photo by Ed Ronco/KCAW )

Tlingit weaver Teri Rofkar died Dec. 2, 2016. She was 60.

The Sitka resident was internationally renowned for her baskets and textiles, made from cedar, spruce tree roots and mountain goat wool collected along Sitka’s shores.

Teri Rofkar's "Caprini Tribal Regalia" Ravenstail robe placed first in the Northwest Coast Customary-Inspired Art category. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
Teri Rofkar’s “Caprini Tribal Regalia” Ravenstail robe placed first in the Northwest Coast Customary-Inspired Art category. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)

Rofkar taught and traveled throughout the state, winning numerous awards including the the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award in 2009 and the Rasmuson Distinguished Artist Award in 2013. Ed Ronco, KCAW’s reporter at the time, visited Rofkar in her studio.

Later in her career, Rofkar began incorporating DNA from goats on Baranof Island into her Ravenstail robes.

KCAW - Sitka

KCAW is our partner station in Sitka. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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