Holly Hensher
In 2006, master artist Holly Hensher taught apprentice Paula Allen to make a Karuk women’s maple bark skirt. Used in tribal ceremonies, Karuk women’s maple bark skirts are made from the innermost layer of bark of the big leaf maple trees found within the Karuk ancestral territories. Hensher began weaving when she was sixteen years old and learned the art of making maple bark skirts from Lyn Risling. Raised in a traditional Karuk and Yurok family, Paula Allen has participated in ceremonies primarily as a dancer and singer. Last year she assisted Hensher in the construction of a maple bark skirt, and during this apprenticeship she will learn each step of the process, from the initial gathering of materials to the skirts’ care and preparation for ceremonies.