Webster, Jessie, 1909-1991

Jessie Webster was born on July 11, 1909 and passed away on January 6, 1991. She was the most widely recognized west coast hat weaver on Vancouver Island. She began making baskets at the early age of seven, however, she feels that she did not start to make adequate baskets until much later. She observed her mother making baskets and assisted with collecting the materials, but she also learned from the late Nellie Jacobsen. She started making whaler style hats in the 1960s. Her hats are in the collections of the UBC Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Vancouver and Burke Museum.

Webster was a First Nations artist who grew up in the Nuu-chah-nulth community of Ahousat (also spelled Ahousaht), British Columbia. At the age of seven, Webster began to learn the traditional art of basket-weaving from her mother and other talented women living in her village. Under the mentoring of the late Nellie Jacobson, a fellow basketmaker, she wove fine cylindrical baskets covered with images of whales, thunderbirds and other prominent West Coast icons. Some of her works include nobility hats (also known as Whaler's or Maquinna hats) made of grass, which are worn by high-ranking members of the Nuu-chah-nulth community. Webster received commissions for these traditional works from the Museum of Anthropology in British Columbia, among others.