Delores Churchill, Haida weaver, shares the stories of her life, her culture and the importance of passing cultural knowledge from one generation to the next. Told with humility, humour and deep respect, From a Square to a Circle is a testament to the values of her people, a technical guide to her masterful weaving skills and a gift to the reader at every point along her journey.

Part memoir, part how-to guide, this book shines light on Delores’s weaving teachers, including her strong-minded mother Selina (Ilst’ayaa), whose teachings Delores once resisted as a child. The Haida are connected to weaving through their history, which goes back thousands of years ago as shown through discoveries like the 4,000-year-old baskets at south Baranof.

Walk with Delores as she harvests cedar bark for baskets, Selina teaching “by modelling and then leaving the learner to imitate.” Learn the weaving harvest and preparation terminology. Follow the steps of how to prepare cedar bark, harvest spruce roots, and learn natural dye recipes. Photos and diagrams are visual aids that accompany the steps to Haida weaving techniques and instructions.

Having passed her skills on to hundreds of people, believing that “weaving belongs to all of us,” Delores wishes to share the knowledge of basketweaving where beginners and skilled weavers are able to express their distinct selves, just as every coastal Indigenous weaving style is unique. The love for basketweaving displayed in Delores’s writing is sure to make readers yearn to try their own hand at the craft.

Ilskyalas, Delores Churchill, was born October 23, 1929, in Gutaawaas (Old Massett), Haida Gwaii, to Ilst’ayaa, Selina Harris Adams Peratrovich of the Gawaa Git’ans Gitanee Eagle Clan, and Skil Gyans, Alfred Adams, of the Kyanuusalii Raven Clan. Like her mother, she did not attend residential school. She grew up speaking the beautiful language of Xaad Kil (Haida), and following the Haida annual harvesting cycle. Her early experiences provided her knowledge of Haida history and lifeways, and gave her an understanding of the Haida relationship to the land, to others, and within the universe. Delores was profiled in the short documentary Tracing Roots (New Day Films, 2014). She lives in Ketchikan, Alaska.

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