CUSTOM BLANKET SPOTLIGHT: Coast Salish Blanket for Clearwater Resort

In addition to developing our own core blanket offerings, Eighth Generation is proud to work with tribes, organizations, and non-profits to create beautiful custom blankets. This recent custom project with Suquamish Clearwater Resort features a stunning design by traditional Coast Salish weaver Danielle Morsette (Suquamish). Merging traditional and contemporary elements is somewhat of a trademark of Eighth Generation, so translating a design that Danielle would typically weave by hand to a contemporary wool blanket and wall hanging felt right up our alley!

The Suquamish Clearwater blanket (left) and Renewal wool blanket (right) at Kiana Lodge in Suquamish, Washington

Danielle has been weaving for over fifteen years, combining traditional Coast Salish motifs with bold contemporary patterning and unusual colors. For this project, she pulled in elements from the swatches of fabric used in the newly remodeled Clearwater Resort rooms to create a design that fit organically with its context. She says, "Inspired by my ancestors, this blanket is a representation of contemporary Salish Weaving. I was given swatches of all the fabrics used in the new rooms and took that as further inspiration to design around the room. Simplistic yet complex, this is who I am as a weaver."

While our blankets aren't woven by hand, we are committed to paying homage to these traditional techniques and maintaining the integrity of traditional art in all that we do. Louie Gong, founder of Eighth Generation, says, "Because we're in the wool blanket business, we have an obligation not only to work with Native artists, but to help create opportunities for weavers specifically."

The Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort wall hanging

You can find this beautiful wool blanket on sale exclusively at the Clearwater Casino Gift Shop, and the accompanying wall hanging above the beds in the newly remodeled rooms at the Clearwater Resort!