MyHydaburg.org

As one of the many highly skilled cedar weavers that populate the picturesque Alaskan village of Hydaburg, Becky Frank has been weaving the fragrant bark of red and yellow cedar trees for 33 years. Born in Ketchikan, Alaska and raised in Seattle, Washington to Haida parents Harold Nathan Frank and Elizabeth Ethel Carl, Becky is descendant of the Frog and Hummingbird clans and the Eagle House of the hereditary Chief Wiah of Masset Village. Growing up between Seattle and Ketchikan, Alaska, Becky spent a lot of time on her father’s fishing boat, and always felt a strong pull to her Native culture.

As a young woman, Becky’s grandmother brought her to the village of the Masset Haida on Graham Island (the largest in the Queen Charlotte Island chain of British Columbia – known traditionally as Haida Gwaii). It was there, at a potlatch, that Becky received her Haida name, Hullthhuulduulse, meaning “she who is shiny.” For eight months she lived among friends and family, learning to gather and weave spruce root, and in so doing become ever more tied to her cultural roots. She soon moved to Hydaburg, Alaska, a village of the Kaigani Haida, where she’s lived ever since. Becky credits her great aunt Emma Matthews for first teaching her the trade, and then – like many of today’s traditional weavers – she attended the now legendary classes taught by Selina Peratrovich and her daughter Delores Churchill, two of the most influential Alaska Native teachers of various forms of time-honored art.

Becky is a strong believer in the importance of incorporating the “modern” into “traditional” art. Although Becky can weave traditional-style Haida baskets and hats, her most popular item is the modern Fedora-style. “Lots of guys in town like the modern Fedora hat, and even the ladies.” She often uses traditional weaving materials and techniques to produce the more contemporary designs, and is always up for an experiment – such as cedar woven 1940′s-style ladies caps. Weaving around carved hat frames, her hats come in small, medium, large, extra large, and extra-extra large. She can weave names into the side using dyed cedar strands, and can incorporate Haida designs, as well as blue and white trade beads.

Becky’s work reflects the proud and rich Haida heritage that spans the arbitrary international border bisecting the Haida Nation between Alaska and Canada at the Dixon Entrance. Her work is not only technically international because the Haida Nation falls on either side of two modern countries, her handicrafts can be found across the world. During a recent stint as an Artist in Residence on the Holland America cruise line, she recalls being treated “like a diplomat,” while she traveled in style on the Captain’s floor. “I got a chocolate on my pillow and a poem on my bed every night,” she laughs.

But for Becky, Haida Country is home. She resigned from her “diplomatic travels” and returned to Hydaburg, where she has dedicated a total of 24 years of service on various councils and boards throughout the village, working in many important sectors of her community. Becky sat on school and health boards, the city council, and held prominent positions in the Hydaburg Cooperative Association (HCA), and in the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS). She has worked with museums and delegates from other tribes along the Northwest Coast to collect artifacts, in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). And her service continues – she now works as an advocate for those affected by domestic violence.

Becky is an integral part of a community that honors and perpetuates its traditional culture, and she humbly passes on the knowledge. Her children and nieces are just a few among the many young ones in Hydaburg that know how to gather, prepare, and weave in the “ways of the old timers” – a modern feat that instills patience and respect for their distinguished heritage. It takes a lot of work, but it is worth it. “Preparing and thinning your bark is the longest and hardest part,” she notes, “and weaving is the easiest… unless you have artist’s block.” Her work has been featured at the Steinburg Gallery in Seattle and the Blue Heron in Victoria, B.C. Canada, but she is content giving her pieces out to community members, especially at potlatches and as donations for fundraisers. While there are those that would confine Native art to the restrictions of the past, Becky knows that art must evolve and change in order to live. There is a spirited and adventurous feeling to her pieces and to her character. She continues to live, weave, and teach in Hydaburg, Alaska. As a modern Haida woman.

To commission a piece from Becky Frank, please contact her by email at beckyfrank@rocketmail.com, or through the Hydaburg Business Center.