MacKenzie Gray | ALASKAN NATIVE ARTS

Kaagwaantann from the Kook Hit Tlein, the Big Box House of Sitka.

I am Mackenzie Gray, I’ve was born and raised here in Juneau, Alaska. My Tlingit name is X’usyee Naa Kaneit, and I am Kaagwaangtann from the Kook Hit Tlein, the Big Box House of Sitka. I graduated from Thunder Mountain High School in May of 2021, and now I’m currently attending the University of Alaska Southeast at the Juneau campus and working towards an Associate of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. I grew up surrounded by the various art mediums, like jewelry making, weaving, carving and formline. But the medium I focus more on is weaving. Weaving Ravenstail is the first art form I felt connected to and from there I just fell in love with it. So, I’ve been weaving Ravenstail for the last eight years now.

I’ll be weaving a Chilkat/Ravenstail 9-to-11-inch bag. I’ll be weaving a Chilkat borders and in the middle will be a Ravenstail pattern.