Andrew "Drew" Viles, PhD is a traditional basket weaver and storyteller who focuses specifically on gay-yu, Siletz cradle baskets; weaving cedar bark hats; and telling the traditional stories of the Siletz people. Viles, who is an instructor of Language, Literature, and Communication at Lane Community College, has also researched and memorized his ancestors’ traditional stories, which he first heard from his mother. Viles learned to weave baskets from elders including Robert Kentta and Bud Lane; his sisters, Melissa Viles Potter and Cynthia Viles; Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw tribal member Enna Helms; and his children. For Drew Viles, weaving, carving, singing, stories, language, spiritual practice are interwoven into the practice—he doesn't separate out the different processes. To do the work he does, he emphasizes the importance of doing it with "a good intention, coming to the work with a good heart, not bringing contention into the work." Viles started making baskets several years ago, around the same time he started to learn Chinook Wawa.