Denise Reed was born December 20, 1968, in Seattle, Washington. She lived in Seattle when she was a young child. Her family moved to Browns Point in 1979, so that they could live on the Puyallup Tribe Reservation. Denise is a proud member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and is very involved in her tribal community. She tries to encourage others to be more involved, by teaching weaving, regalia, and taking them gathering.

Denise loves to weave, she started weaving raffia baskets when she was just 7 years old. She learned to weave from her mother, Sharron Nelson & her aunt, Karen Reed, who are both master basket weavers and teachers. Now, that they are both retired, it is Denise’s job to keep teaching, to ensure that these ancestral teachings will last for many generations.

Denise worked for the Puyallup Tribe’s Culture Program for over 15 years, where she started teaching weaving classes, sewing classes, and even dance practices. She even taught them how to gather and prepare your own weaving materials. She teaches to weave with raffia, cedar, cattail, beargrass, sweet grass, red cherry bark, maple bark, birch bark, tule, sinew, yarn and wool. Every Spring, Denise loves to take people to making the mountains, along the rivers, and in the valleys, to go gathering. Working for the Culture program, gave her many opportunities, her favorite was learning about medicinal plants. She leaned to make tinctures, teas, salves, and other medicinal remedies.

Denise is a traditional Powwow dancer & and a Northwest Coast-Salish dancer. She loves designing & making dance regalia (Pow-wow & coastal). Denise believes it’s especially important that they learn how to make their own regalia, that way they will appreciate and respect it more. Plus, they will be able to pass on those teachings to their children. Denise has been in the Puyallup Canoe family, for over 20 years, where she helped choreograph their dances and made sure all the members had dresses and vests to wear for protocol during canoe journeys and dance performances.

Some of her accomplishments over the years are the following:
• 1985-86: Miss Puyallup Nation Princess
• 1989-90: Miss University of Washington Queen
• 1990-91: Miss Puyallup Nation Princess
• July 21, 1991: Danced in the Goodwill Games at Husky Stadium
• 2008-2023: Lead dancer for the Puyallup Canoe Family Protocol and performances.
• 2019: Second place winner at the Northwest Native American Basket Weaving Conf. & Fashion Show
• 2013-2022: Lead dancer for the Mariners Native American Night Opening Ceremonies
• 2010-Present: Northwest Native American Basket-weavers Association member & teacher
• 2024: Denise’s basket designs were put on cement stamps in a new Tacoma Park on Dock Street.

Denise has been a member of the Northwest Native American Basket Weaving Association for over 15 years. She always sat with the elders, wanting to learn from the best. Her favorite teachers were Bill James (Lummi), Ethyl Warbus (Lummi), Theresa Parker (Makah) and many more, most of them are no longer with us. Denise’s goal was to learn all the various weaving styles, forms and materials. After she mastered that, now it is her time to give back. Denise has been a featured weaver for a couple years now, looking forward too many more years of teaching and passing on these beautiful traditional teachings.

[email protected]
Tacoma, WA