| Betty David | |
| Birth Date: | 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Nespelem, Washington |
| Death Date: | August 31, 2007 |
| Education: | University of Oregon Marylhurst University |
| Occupation: | fashion designer |
| Nationality: | Spokane |
Betty David (1938 – August 31, 2007) was a Native American fashion designer renowned for her handmade coats and leather goods.
David was born in Nespelem, Washington; she attended the University of Oregon and Marylhurst College.[1] She was enrolled as a member of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, Wellpinit, Washington.
In the 1970s, she received a shearling coat as a gift and decided she could design a better one.[2] She first began selling her hand-sewn coats decorated with painted designs in, in David's own words, "Northwest Coast Indian style," at the Santa Fe Art Market. She had a loft studio in Seattle's Pioneer Square and had a traveling trunk show. She later sold her work at galleries in Spokane and New York City and received attention in major publications.[3] [4] [5] [6]
Her work was acquired by the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston, Illinois and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.[7]
David described her designs as bridging the divide between nature and abstraction: "'I'm inspired by animals and parts of animals, but I'm not trying to make critters. They're abstract ... It's a new totem pole look.'"