Pat Courtney-Gold

Basketry is one of the major traditions of Plateau Culture. My goal is to preserve and promote traditional basketry throughout the Plateau communities, and to pass the basketry skills to the next generation. The heritage of art and culture is all embracing. Our Culture is tied very closely to the environment. Our artwork is dependent on plants and animals. We rely on our environment for animal materials, plants for basketry, and clean environment, water, and air for a healthy community. We must practice our heritage and become stewards of the land. We must educate and encourage the next generation to honor our ancestral lifestyles of living in harmony with the earth.

“Pat comes from a long line of weavers, from her mother’s Wasco heritage, and from her father’s Tlingit heritage. She works for the future of Columbia River Plateau weavers, and what she has gathered, the techniques, the repository of information, and the platform for teaching will continue the tradition for as long as humanity continues, here in the northwest.” - Trudy Brunoe, Nominator