Bruce Miller: Techniques and Designs

Gerald Bruce subiyay Miller was a heralded member of the Skokomish Tribe and master of many art forms, including Twana basket weaving, specializing in the Tkayas style. He began to weave around age ten, learning from the last two Twana basket weavers, Emily Miller (his mother) and Louisa Pulsifer. He was also a respected ceremonial and spiritual leader of the Twana and a member of the culture committee. An educator at heart, Bruce developed adult education programs and designed the Early Indian Child Education Project. He also taught at the Institute of American Indian Art. His work has been featured in many exhibits and publications, and he has received numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts National Folk Arts Fellowship (2006), a Washington Folk Arts Fellowship, and the Washington Governor's Art and Heritage Award in 1992.




The Twana people are world-renown for their basketry skills. Tkayas is a form of Twana basketry; used to create soft, twine baskets with overlay patterns. The baskets are made out of cattail, bear grass, cedar bark, and sweetgrass. Decorative animal borders are typical of the Tkayas basket weaving style. At the time when he was the last living Twana to still weave in the Tkayas style, Bruce and the Skokomish tribe felt it necessary that the traditional art be passed on to future generations.




As a 1994 recipient of an Apprenticeship grant, Miller taught four apprentices the art of Twana Tkayas basket weaving. Millers apprentices were Leona Miller, Anne Pavel, Jeanne Evernden, and Nikki Burfiend. All four apprentices were dedicated to learning and preserving the traditional art of Twana basketry. Millers apprentice, Nikki Burfiend, has already begun to teach her daughter Twana basketry weaving techniques. With the enthusiasm of these four, and many of his subsequent apprentices, Twana basketry will continue to be remembered as a traditional Skokomish Tribal art form.




Bruce subiyay Miller died of a stroke in early 2005 at the age of 60.

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[lizaruby2588]

i love bruce! i never got to meet him, but my teacher and mentor worked with him a lot, not only with basket weaving, but with the sayuyi garden at his home and the evergreen state college.

i am actually in the process of making my 3rd basket, and i always think of bruce when i am weaving. i wish i had been able to meet him...but nonetheless he is in my thoughts whenever i am in my medicinal garden or weaving baskets...

thanks for sharing!

[mcusa77]

Good job, nice work,and i'm sure a fine man! Be well.

[relativelynow]

Sorry you lost your uncle. His baskets are beautiful and it's great hearing so much information and history about them and the type of weaving. Thank you for sharing this!

[12jamiecool]

Come on please rate the 5 starz he was a leader the the Native American Tribe and he passed away he was my uncle please i feel so sad its a cedar basket and the dogs those are called skok dogs it represents our tribe sign please