Maxine Matilpi (b. 1956) was born in Alert Bay. She spent her early life in her home village of Kalugwis, located in the very center of Kwakwaka'wakw territory. There she learned her first language, Kwakwala, and was formally trained and educated in many aspects of traditional culture. Maxine has dedicated her talents to her people in order that their traditional culture remains vibrant and strong.

As a child, Maxine was encouraged to assist her mother, Jesse Matilpi (Wadidi), and other elders with making blankets and other regalia projects. Her first job was to sort buttons by size, she later graduated to more complex tasks such as cutting the appliqué designs and border trim from red cloth. In 1985, she completed her first button blanket without assistance and since then she has created nearly 100 ceremonial items in fabric which include button blankets, dance aprons, vest and tunics.

Her mother’s generation preferred to use the woolen Hudson’s Bay Company blanket as a base for the ceremonial robe and used felt or cotton broadcloth for the borders and the central design. In most instances, the blankets used were navy blue or deep green in color. Maxine’s first choice of material is melton cloth, which is both denser and lighter than the woolen blanket. Almost unique among contemporary aboriginal fabric artists is her use of stroud, an old woven trade cloth, as her appliqué material. The main crest figures on her blankets are designed by her partner, John Livingston, an artist who has mastered both the two dimensional and sculptural forms of Northwest Coast art. The boarder designs are defined with buttons are of her own creation and include solid triangles which symbolize mountains, and sinuous compositions incorporating vines, leaves and flowers.

One of Maxine’s favorite and recurring images is that of a butterfly; it appears both on border designs and as the primary figure on blankets and aprons. It represents an important family crest. It is said that long ago when the world was young, an old man


emerged from under the sea. A butterfly landed on his head and since then it has come to symbolize the ancient lineage from which Maxine’s family descended.

Other significant crests depicted on her costumes are the mythic bird Kolus (said to be the younger brother of Thunderbird), Raven, Wolf, and Whale, all of which figure prominently in her family history. These images are jealously guarded family privileges and are properly displayed only in ceremonial context.

In 1995, Maxine completed a suite of blankets, aprons and tunics to be worn by family members at a memorial potlatch. Most of the objects displayed in this exhibit were used in ceremony. The regalia is a tribute to an accomplished artist who has dedicated her talent to her people in order that their traditional culture remains vibrant and strong.


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2000 Tribal Miniatures '00, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

1999 Tribal Miniatures '99, annual exhibition, Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC

1997 Button Blankets of the Kwakwaka'wakw, Maxine Matilpi, Sparkasse, Lahr, Germany

1996 Button Blankets of the Kwakwaka'wakw, Maxine Matilpi,Gallery Sud, Magedeburg, Germany

Maxine Matilpi and Tom hunt exhibition, City of Frankfurt, Ethnographic Museum, Germany