Jennie Thlunaut
Master Chilkat Blanket Artist
by Rosita Worl and Charles Smythe
from the Exhibit book “The Artists Behind the Work” published by the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska 1986. Reprinted here with author's permission

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Two months before the completion of the exhibition and catalog, Jennie died at the age of 94. We were thankful that many aspects of her early and later years as a Tlingit artists have been described in her biography. She will be remembered as one of the most eminent and celebrated weavers of Tlingit ceremonial robes. Because of her adherence to traditional art forms, designs, and materials in a changing society, Jennie will continue to be a role model for other artists, especially those Tlingit weavers of the Shax’saani Keek’ Guild who were fortunate enough to have watched and learned from her.

INTRODUCTION
My first recollection of my grandmother Jennie Thlunaut goes back to the period when she was living in the Raven House. I recall the happy moments as a little girl picking blueberries and playing on the beach on the beautiful, sunshining days. My grandfather, John Thlunaut, was still alive then. After his death, Jennie left Raven House, according to Tlingit custom, since she was no longer married to a member of the Raven Lukwaax.adi clan. She returned to Klukwan, and it was there that I began to work with her as a colleague. She encouraged me and supported my work in collecting oral traditions and songs, but she could not understand why I was more immersed in this rather than learning how to weave Chilkat blankets and spruce root baskets.

Through the years, Grandma Jennie continued to help me. When I went back East for my graduate studies, she made me a vest with “Alaska” beaded on the back because she wanted people to know I was from Alaska. Later she came back to participate in the “Tlingit Aanee” exhibit which I developed at the Harvard Museum. When I returned to Alaska, she worked with me and my colleague, Dr. Charles Smythe, on a project on Tlingit property law.
It seemed fitting that I should also be able to collaborate with her on her biography. She was already in her early nineties when she began to discuss her life history. Her hearing had begun to fail and it was necessary for me to speak directly into her ear. She also tired easily, and we found that it was best for her if we worked in short intervals. She seemed to be quite eager to work with us if it proceeded more as an informal discussion.

My familiarity with Jennie was an asset, but it became apparent during our initial work that it was sometimes a disadvantage. Dr. Smythe, who was present during our discussions, began to ask her questions that I had overlooked because I assumed I already knew much about her life. We decided that it would be best if he continued to play a formal role in the work on her life history. She would also occasionally lapse into Tlingit, and Johnny Marks, another relative of both Grandma Jennie’s and mine, assisted in the translations.

After we finished writing Grandma Jennie’s life history, we sent copies of it to members of her family. John Marks also reviewed and commented on the biography. In the years after we finished the biography, Grandma Jennie would often recount incidents in her life, and I was always so amazed that it seemed to be a verbatim account that she had given to us earlier. It indeed has been a pleasure to us to know that when her life history was read to Grandma Jennie, she smiled and seemed to be satisfied with the work.
R.W.

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