Hand Crafted Stories
Sewing for garments and fashion has always had a long history for Inuvialuit - using furs, hides, seal skin, and beads to create clothes that were warm enough to live in the Western Arctic. Developing these traditional techniques required skill and creativity, and made for unique, hand-crafted designs. This knowledge is passed down through generations, from one to the next, to keep the skills and stories alive.
Taalrumiq sewing a sealskin earring
“In those days, it used to be 60 to 80 below around here,” says Fred Wolki with a laugh. “It was cold, but we always managed to have good clothing. You could sleep just about outside laying on the ground. They were so warm.”
For Betty Elias, these traditions are deeply connected to her own family. “It was a way to tell stories of our culture and our past and our history because it’s been passed down from mothers to daughters through sewing.”
It has always taken creativity and knowledge to create clothes for survival that were also beautiful pieces of art. This included the knowledge of how to make the very specific and measured cuts to a piece of wolf hide to make a beautiful wolf ruff sunburst around the hood of a parka. It is a traditional technique that creates a unique piece of artwork while also keeping the wind from biting a person’s face.
An atikluk (parka cover) called “Love Letter to Tuktuuyaqtuuq” hand-made by Taalrumiq
Taalrumiq brings the appreciation of her ancestors' artistry to her own work. “Our ancestors were so creative in that they found ingenious ways to survive and use what was available in their surroundings. They showed their artistry and creativity in the garments and the tools that they made.”
Sharing and teaching these techniques and knowledge is a way to keep these stories alive in younger generations of artists. Traditionally, it started with practicing techniques by sewing doll clothes alongside elders as they sewed together while teaching and telling stories.
Betty keeps this sharing alive with her own daughters and other members of the community. “My daughters have learned to sew, either from friends or other ladies in the community as well as myself. They used to always watch my sewing and I used to watch my mother sewing a lot, and my aunties. There was a lot of sewing years ago.”
By using materials harvested from the land, the history of being resourceful and creative with fashion and sewing stays alive. Traditional materials can be repaired and repurposed rather than disposed of. When all these pieces of art are hand-crafted and unique, the furs and hides themselves take on a history and story. The mitts made by a loving family member or furs harvested by an old hunter can live on.
It’s another part of the craft that Betty remembers from her mother. “I used to see my mom using furs - or take bits and pieces of furs that are still good. You can reuse them or add them onto clothing so you don’t waste them.”
Betty Elias with one of her hand-sewn puppets
Sewing today, like all ways of life in Tuktuyaaqtuuq, is done with a mix of traditional and modern materials. Access to machine-treated furs makes many furs more available to learning artists. However, furs treated in the traditional way are still an important part of the history and culture of sewing and crafting for Inuvialuit.
Saliqmiut: Tuktuuyaqtuuq Centre for Arts and Culture will be another opportunity to mix the modern and the traditional - a space to provide tools and teaching with all sorts of traditional and industrial materials, a place to gather and share stories, a place to pass on knowledge the way it has always been done in Tuk.
Episode 4 of our 8-part Saliqmiut mini-documentary series is out now. Hand Crafted Stories is about the rich tradition of sewing int he Western Arctic and how traditional Inuvialuit clothing provided more than protection from the elements. It was also used as a form of expression and storytelling.
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