Catherine-(Tom) Blaney

Basket maker Catherine (Tom) Blaney's father, Alec Yasaw Tom, was the eldest son of Sliammon Chief Tom Timothy. Sliammon people did not immediately adopt the surname customs of the British.  Instead, Sliammon families often chose to use a father's first name as the surname of his children.  Hence the sons and daughters of Chief Tom Timothy had Tom, rather than Timothy as their surname.

Alec Tom married Amelia Louie, a woman from Sechelt.  The couple had four children: Catherine, Mary, Sara and Louie Tom.  We know little about the children's mother Amelia Louie but suspect that she was a basket maker as all three of her daughters became basket makers.  Only the work of Catherine and Mary is included in this inventory.  If you know of other pieces made by this family please contact the Museum at Cambpell River so that we can include images of them here.

Later in life Catherine began to loose her sight, but even failing vision did not stop her from making baskets.  She particularly enjoyed getting together with her sister Mary (George) and Agnes Mcgee for communal basket making sessions.  Her grand nephew Steve Vivier fondly remembers the gatherings that took place after Catherine's sight was almost completely gone,  Catherine building basket bottoms and passing them over to one of the others to finish.   When a young person in the family got married, the group of basket makers would get together to make the newly wed couple a set of baskets.  The baskets pictured here are part of a set made for Steve Vivier.  Made during Catherine's later years they are not representative of her work when she was sighted.

Katherine's grand-nephew Steve Vivier remembers that Katherine preferred to use spruce root for her baskets because it was easier to clean.   Her sister Mary (George) preferred cedar roots. 

Katherine would boil her corn husks to bleach them before using them.