Tyrone Elliott/
Tuwuxuwult-hw
My name is Tyrone Elliott; my Ancestral name is Tuwuxuwult-hw, a name I've had passed to me by my father. I am the son of Violet Elliott, who is Snuneymux' and a highly-regarded weaver, and Joe Elliott, who is Quw'utsun and taught me all about harvesting and passed unto me a wealth of knowledge about local plants.
My life partner, Jasmine, is in a lot of ways responsible for my business. In 2018, I was burned out and dealing with chronic health issues. Those issues lead to me taking time away from work. It was during this time off that I started to weave more often.
The idea of making weaving my full-time venture began to permeate my mind, and I expressed as much. Jasmine encouraged me to go with my heart's desire, and so I did. I needed the push, or it would never have been.
Also want to acknowledge my lifelong friend and roommate at the time, Jaxxen, for being another person adamant about my ability to land on my feet.
I was taught to harvest Cedar and some simply weaving techniques when I was 5. It was my Teaching that Cedar is sacred to my people, and to Indigenous people all up and down the coast. It was of great importance to our vitality and not something to be taken lightly. As such, I was taught never to over-harvest, to listen to the tree for guidance, to accept what was given, and to trust the process.
I was nearly always around my parents when they worked with Cedar, and picked up on the lessons they themselves were in the process of learning. Cedar has been vital to my living, just as it was to my Ancestors.
At age 13, I attended a Cedar hat workshop my mother was teaching. I hadn't made a hat myself before. It had seemed beyond me. I remember distinctly though, on the second day of the workshop, looking at the hat my mother had brought with her to demonstrate. I held that hat in my hand and studied it for what must have been 20 minutes at least. After a while, I looked at my mother and asked, "is it that easy?"
I didn't mean to dismiss the amount of work it takes to make a hat. It was just the first time I had actually broken down the process into digestable steps. 'Easy' wasn't the right word. It was still a long process. It just made sense to me in that moment. That moment has seeped into how I approach any work that comes my way.
I began co-facilitating with my mother about around the age of 20. Though at first I didn't know if I should be the one teaching, I found that I have a breadth of knowledge I wasn't aware of.
I can speak to the special kind of community-building that Cedar weaving imparts. There is an extraordinary beauty in a group of First Nations people learning the practices of their Ancestors. I have never collected Cedar alone. My family has always gone as a unit, each and every one of us having our dedicated tasks.
I can speak to the confidence that has been gifted to me through weaving. Each and every task I have thrown my way, and I'm able to complete, I am able to attribute to that one day when I was 13 and thought, "is it that easy?"
I can speak to the feeling of kinship to my Ancestors that fills me every time I touch Cedar or see a Tree that was harvested prior.
I can speak to the impacts that colonialism and climate change have had on the art form, and how weaving itself is resistance.
And, of course, I can speak to the actual weaving techniques that I know.
I hope you're leaving with an understanding that when you buy a pair of earrings, or a basket, or maybe a bracelet, that this has been a lifelong journey. There are a multitude of Teachings that go into weaving each piece, and everything I make I make with the best intentions.
With that said, please take a look at what I have! I hope you appreciate the work I put into my Work.