Twined Pendleton wool yarn in isosceles pattern of orange, green, hot pink, on purple background; commercial hide edging. Sewn with hemp., height: 11"; Diameter: 7 1/2"Joey Lavadour was 15 years old when he learned from a tribal elder, Carrie Sampson, how to weave in the traditional style of the Plateau people — a tradition that goes back more than 10,000 years. “The art of weaving had never been lost to Carrie and her ancestors,” he says. “A continuum of knowledge flowed directly down to her and then passed on to me. I feel a great pride and obligation in being entrusted with that knowledge. Carrie always said that instead of weaving designs in what I thought were traditional colors, I weave together the colors that I see in my dreams.” Weaver Joey Lavadour worked at the Pendleton mill, “where spools of yarn created a vibrant backdrop to mindless work,” he says. “[Pendleton yarn] is of the same place I am, not just by virtue of manufacturing, but memories of blankets used by my family.” His “Coyote’s Tricks” Gathering Bag, 1998, represents this heritage.
