Clarissa Rizal

Rizal was born on June 4, 1956, in Juneau, Alaska, with the last name of Lampe.[3] Through her mother, she is of the T'ak Dein Taan (black-legged kittywake) clan of Hoonah/Glacier Bay.[1][3] She also produced artwork for a time using the married name of Hudson. Rizal raised a son and two daughters; both daughters are weavers.[2] She died on December 7, 2016, in Pagosa Springs, CO.[3]

When in her twenties, Rizal apprenticed under Jennie Thlunaut to learn Chilkat weaving.[1] Thlunaut was in her 90s. In 2005, Rizal published a book titled Jennie Weaves an Apprentice: A Chilkat Weaver's Handbook. It won a 2007–08 Honoring Alaska's Indigenous Literature Award from the Alaska Native Knowledge Network at University of Alaska, Fairbanks.[4]

Rizal also received awards for her artwork. She won a 2013 Artist Fellowship from the Rasmuson Foundation.[5] In 2015, Rizal received a Native Arts & Cultures Foundation National Artist Fellowship.[6] She was a 2011 and 2016 First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellow.[7] Rizal received a 2016 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her mentor Jennie Thlunaut received the same award in 1986.[8]

One of the last robes on which Rizal worked was a collaborative effort, Weavers Across the Water.[2][8] At least fifty weavers either submitted squares or helped Rizal in other ways. The squares were woven together into a single robe. It was first worn by master carver Wayne Price at the dedication of a new Huna tribal house in Glacier Bay. Rizal then took the robe to Washington, DC, for the NEA award event.[2]

• Folk Masters: A Portrait of America. Indiana University Press. 2017. p. 217. ISBN 9780253032331.

• Official website