Kwakiutl Blanket

In 1980, Wood received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to stage a Kwakiutl winter ceremonial for the Aman Folk Ensemble. Having grown up in Washington state, she was well acquainted with Northwest Coast Native arts. Traditional Kwakiutl blankets inspired her design for this backdrop.

Kwakiutl blanket sketch

Wood's sketch of the backdrop she designed for the Kwakiutl suite

Performance of the Kwakiutl Winter Ceremonial by the Aman Folk Ensemble

The finished backdrop hangs upstage in an Aman performance of the suite

Performance of the Kwakiutl Winter Ceremonial by the Aman Folk Ensemble

Aman dancers as Crooked Beak (center) and Raven (right foreground) wearing masks that Wood commissioned from Duane Pasco, highly regarded artist and teacher of Northwest Coast Native style art.