Lois Chichinoff Thadei

Lois (better known as Louie) was an Aleut enrolled in Sealaska. Born into the Tlingit and Haida community in Ketchikan she was part of the Lauth family by both adoption and her father’s marriage. She was an enrolled member of the Ketchikan Indian Community and an original voting Sealaska Shareholder. Creativity was part of her family’s everyday life. Her Grandmother, Sophie Chichinoff Ford Thadei was a skin sewer and weaver. Her father, Louis Thadei, Jr. (Aleut-Sealaska) embellished found objects. Her Aunt, Johanna Paddock Snyder (Aleut – Sealaska) was a skin sewer. Her sisters Sharon Lauth Brown (Haida – Sealaska) and Mary Lauth (Sealaska) are weavers and skin sewers and her brother Fred Lauth (Haida – Sealaska) has always been a cedar carver.

Lois was a weaver, printmaker and 3-D artist working with metal, wood and glass. Her focus was on arts she has practiced for over 40 years: metalsmithing, glasswork, and printmaking with works currently in prestigious galleries.

EXHIBITS AND SHOWS
Lois’ art is routinely exhibited in western, tribal and mainstream and corporate galleries. Recent shows include:
-Stonington Gallery, Seattle, WA
-U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts & Crafts Board Sioux Indian Museum, Rapid City, S.D.
– Office of the Secretariat, United Nations, New York City,
– National Centres of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Russian Federation.,
– Lucia Douglas Gallery and Peace Hospital, Bellingham, WA
– Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Capitol, Olympia, WA

AWARDS
– Washington State Governor’s Master/Apprentice Award
– First People’s Fund (Rapid City, SD) Community Spirit, Cultural Capital and Creative Fellowship awards
– Artist Trust, Seattle, WA GAP Award
– Washington State Historical Museum, Tacoma, WA. Native Spirit Art Show, Artist Choice Adhering to Tradition, Second in Traditional Works Class
– Northwest Native Art Show and Sale, Portland, OR Traditional Weaving Best in Class

RECENT AND RELEVANT
She was an award winning artist and last focused her Aleut weaving with a group of apprentices in Bellingham and Olympia, Washington. They have moved forward, now showing their contemporary weaving in museums and galleries. Later in her life she focused on metalwork, glass and printmaking. She passed away in 2018.

Learn more about the artist by reading this excellent article from KUOW from 2010: “They Tried to Strip Her of Her Culture: Weaving Was Her Defense“.