WEBVTT 00:00:09.676 --> 00:00:13.471 My name is Emily Sam, I am from Chisasibi 00:00:13.471 --> 00:00:16.891 and I will be discussing the beaded hood. 00:00:16.891 --> 00:00:20.020 I think it’s very important for today's youth to know about this, 00:00:20.020 --> 00:00:23.690 because people don’t wear these hats anymore. 00:00:23.690 --> 00:00:31.740 But in the past our ancestors wore these beaded hoods. 00:00:32.198 --> 00:00:41.166 This beaded hood, in the past, our ancestors must have worn these. 00:00:41.166 --> 00:00:54.888 The Europeans, the Christian missionaries and the fur traders all wanted to claim these. 00:00:55.055 --> 00:01:01.352 They must have seen the women wearing these hoods. 00:01:01.352 --> 00:01:10.278 In the 1860’s, they purchased the hoods. 00:01:10.278 --> 00:01:13.364 It was said that they were burned. 00:01:13.364 --> 00:01:20.371 So there are very few beaded hoods today. 00:01:20.371 --> 00:01:22.957 This is what I’m going to discuss, 00:01:22.957 --> 00:01:29.047 from the story my grandmother Mina Bearskin Tapiatic told. 00:01:29.047 --> 00:01:31.466 She wore these hoods. 00:01:31.466 --> 00:01:33.802 This is her story. 00:01:34.969 --> 00:01:48.399 This beaded hood, she said they looked liked this. 00:01:48.858 --> 00:01:57.575 This particular hood here, was worn when people journeyed. 00:01:57.575 --> 00:02:06.751 The elderly woman would wear this during the journey, and during the journey only. 00:02:06.751 --> 00:02:12.549 She would walk at the rear. 00:02:12.549 --> 00:02:22.016 When they reached their destination, she wouldn’t bring her hood inside. 00:02:22.016 --> 00:02:26.896 She would take it off and hang it outside before entering the home. 00:02:26.896 --> 00:02:41.286 If there was an exposed small tree nearby, that’s where she would hang her hood. 00:02:41.286 --> 00:02:44.956 She never brought it inside. 00:02:44.956 --> 00:02:58.303 If it snowed while they were camped, whether one day or more, she would cover it. 00:02:58.303 --> 00:03:08.271 Only when they would move to another camp and journey, she would put it on again. 00:03:08.271 --> 00:03:20.116 This beaded hood here, this red part here, they are paths. 00:03:20.116 --> 00:03:28.666 Because when they would journey and she would wear it, these were the paths of the people. 00:03:28.666 --> 00:03:30.043 When they journeyed out in the bush, they would follow the path of the animals. 00:03:30.043 --> 00:03:41.346 When they journeyed out in the bush, they would follow the path of the animals. 00:03:41.387 --> 00:03:45.475 These were the animals paths as well. 00:03:45.475 --> 00:03:56.611 The beaded hoods, the long and red ones, there isn’t only one, nor one kind. 00:03:56.611 --> 00:04:00.740 Sometimes there is only one path. 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:04.410 Sometimes two, three. 00:04:04.661 --> 00:04:13.294 When there are three, that is the most important one. 00:04:13.294 --> 00:04:15.838 The three ribbons. 00:04:16.214 --> 00:04:22.720 Because there were the animals that lived indoors with us, 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:29.519 and they were respected too, which is why this hood was never brought indoors. 00:04:29.978 --> 00:04:40.446 These beads here, there is a reason why they are used. 00:04:43.408 --> 00:04:48.955 These yellow ones are all placed all around. 00:04:48.955 --> 00:04:56.296 They are the sun, because this is worn outside and never inside. 00:04:56.296 --> 00:05:05.722 So this is the sun. 00:05:05.722 --> 00:05:18.276 Because that’s where the Iiyiyiuch got their light from during the day, 00:05:18.276 --> 00:05:21.696 and that is where they were warm. 00:05:21.696 --> 00:05:26.409 So this is the sun, to respect the sun. 00:05:26.409 --> 00:05:38.629 These white ones, that is the snow and the white cloud. 00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:41.758 This represents all things outdoors. 00:05:41.758 --> 00:06:03.488 These blue ones represent a cloudless clear sky, and also water. 00:06:03.488 --> 00:06:07.950 When the water is pure. 00:06:07.950 --> 00:06:10.411 So these are the blue ones. 00:06:10.411 --> 00:06:14.582 These green ones are the earth. 00:06:14.582 --> 00:06:21.297 Everything that is outdoors like the trees, 00:06:21.297 --> 00:06:30.598 the bushes, the flowers, that’s what these are. 00:06:32.850 --> 00:06:38.773 So this red part, some of these are red beads. 00:06:38.773 --> 00:06:42.568 This is fire, for warmth. 00:06:42.568 --> 00:06:46.781 They used to make fires outside. 00:06:46.781 --> 00:06:55.957 It was also said that Pikutshkwau preferred when people wore red. 00:06:55.957 --> 00:07:05.216 Because it is very obvious when someone wears red, 00:07:05.216 --> 00:07:13.891 our ancestors would wear and make red designs with their beadwork just like this one 00:07:13.891 --> 00:07:21.482 so the spirit of the land would see them, out of respect of the land. 00:07:21.482 --> 00:07:34.787 This here had 7 of these, because of the various wind directions. 00:07:34.787 --> 00:07:39.041 There is wind from 4 directions. 00:07:39.584 --> 00:07:44.797 But there are also these directions here. That makes 7. 00:07:44.797 --> 00:07:48.134 This represents those wind directions. 00:07:48.134 --> 00:07:51.929 Because this is used outside. 00:07:51.929 --> 00:07:55.725 This applies to this hood. 00:07:55.725 --> 00:08:08.029 Also, a person cannot decide to make one for themselves. 00:08:08.029 --> 00:08:10.823 It doesn’t work that way. 00:08:10.823 --> 00:08:19.165 It was said that there are people who decide who may wear these hoods. 00:08:19.165 --> 00:08:23.794 An elderly man or woman, 00:08:23.794 --> 00:08:28.424 who decides to tell the person to make one for themselves to wear. 00:08:28.424 --> 00:08:34.764 Or in the past, the Chief would decide. 00:08:34.764 --> 00:08:41.771 It was never the person themselves would do decide to make one to wear themselves. 00:08:41.771 --> 00:08:43.814 It did not work that way. 00:08:43.814 --> 00:08:49.111 It was through direction from someone else. 00:08:52.198 --> 00:08:56.827 My grandmother Mina Bearskin Tapiatic, 00:08:56.827 --> 00:08:59.997 that was her name when she had a beaded hood. 00:08:59.997 --> 00:09:03.084 She wore a hood like this also. 00:09:03.084 --> 00:09:13.302 This beaded hood is handed down through generations. 00:09:13.302 --> 00:09:25.398 So my grandmother said that her grandmother had the beaded hood. 00:09:25.398 --> 00:09:35.408 She saw firsthand her grandmother wearing it while they journeyed. 00:09:35.908 --> 00:09:43.666 And my grandmother Mina’s grandmother told her the story too, 00:09:43.666 --> 00:09:51.549 that her grandmother had a beaded too, through their ancestry. 00:09:51.549 --> 00:09:58.973 So these hoods, when you see others that have been preserved 00:09:58.973 --> 00:10:05.271 and they’re extremely fancy and well decorated with flowers, 00:10:05.271 --> 00:10:11.485 those have different purposes than this one here. 00:10:11.485 --> 00:10:16.324 They’re not all the same. 00:10:16.324 --> 00:10:26.667 Those that are decorated with flowers, I researched them. 00:10:26.667 --> 00:10:35.426 There was an elder who told a story that his grandmother wear one. 00:10:35.426 --> 00:10:39.680 His grandmother was a Chief. 00:10:39.680 --> 00:10:44.977 Those were the very fancy ones with flowers. 00:10:44.977 --> 00:10:49.732 I researched that and that was the story. 00:10:49.732 --> 00:10:56.322 Some female Chiefs had these, but not all. 00:10:56.322 --> 00:11:02.870 Very few when it came to the fancy ones. 00:11:03.746 --> 00:11:18.511 Another woman that would wear this is when highly respected game was brought back. 00:11:18.511 --> 00:11:30.106 She would dress up with the beaded hood for game such as bear, 00:11:30.106 --> 00:11:34.944 or other highly respected game out of respect. 00:11:35.361 --> 00:11:37.697 She would dress up for the game. 00:11:37.697 --> 00:11:40.032 That was another story that was told. 00:11:40.032 --> 00:11:45.121 So when a woman wore this, they would also wear these, 00:11:45.121 --> 00:11:47.915 which my grandmother called leggings. 00:11:47.915 --> 00:11:58.092 She would wear these on her legs over her other clothes. 00:11:59.385 --> 00:12:06.600 And this here was called the “inner elbow” by my grandmother. 00:12:07.184 --> 00:12:14.191 And she would wear them like this over her elbows. 00:12:14.191 --> 00:12:16.694 And then the legs. 00:12:16.694 --> 00:12:22.199 So she would put on her hat, then her hood over it. 00:12:22.199 --> 00:12:29.665 I can’t put them on now because we aren’t supposed to wear them indoors, 00:12:29.665 --> 00:12:31.667 as per the old stories. 00:12:31.667 --> 00:12:35.004 I only ever wear them outdoors, 00:12:35.004 --> 00:12:39.341 because I go by their rules of never bringing them indoors. 00:12:39.341 --> 00:12:42.803 This was only used outdoors. 00:12:42.803 --> 00:12:44.805 So this one 00:12:46.849 --> 00:12:51.479 is a beaded hood for a young woman. 00:12:51.479 --> 00:12:54.231 It’s a bit bigger. 00:12:55.733 --> 00:12:58.903 I wanted to make one based on those models. 00:12:58.903 --> 00:13:04.700 The sleeves are attached to the hood. 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:07.620 This was likely how they made them for young women. 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:13.542 There are 7 here, and these for the winds. 00:13:13.542 --> 00:13:17.171 These are the same types of beads. 00:13:17.963 --> 00:13:27.139 So it was tied around here like this, for the woman. 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:34.563 This was just for an example based on the size of the young woman. 00:13:34.563 --> 00:13:38.484 And it was tied here. 00:13:39.068 --> 00:13:45.950 This here, they vary in design. 00:13:46.784 --> 00:13:50.454 Some have no flowers and such. 00:13:50.454 --> 00:13:53.415 Those means something different. 00:13:53.415 --> 00:13:57.795 These are the paths of the animals and the people. 00:13:57.795 --> 00:14:00.506 These weren’t brought indoors. 00:14:01.465 --> 00:14:07.721 But other ones were brought indoors because they meant something different. 00:14:07.721 --> 00:14:14.395 The men also had their own hoods. 00:14:15.229 --> 00:14:21.026 I’m also going to discuss the leggings as my grandmother called them. 00:14:21.026 --> 00:14:28.909 These are for children and she told me this is how they were made. 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:35.332 They were tied here so they wouldn’t slip downward. 00:14:35.332 --> 00:14:40.045 And this was tied here so it wouldn’t slip either. 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:42.673 She called them “The Legs”. 00:14:42.673 --> 00:14:45.718 This was for a child. 00:14:45.718 --> 00:14:50.264 This here is for a man. 00:14:50.264 --> 00:14:57.229 White was always used for men. 00:14:57.229 --> 00:15:04.987 A woman could use any other colour. 00:15:06.155 --> 00:15:12.161 A woman’s are shorter, and men’s a bit longer. 00:15:12.161 --> 00:15:15.080 This is one of the differences. 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:20.711 A woman’s legging had a right angle like this. 00:15:20.711 --> 00:15:27.843 But a man's had these. 00:15:29.261 --> 00:15:34.642 She said it was like a caribou’s hoof. 00:15:34.642 --> 00:15:44.276 My grandmother said it was made like a caribou hoof for a man. 00:15:44.276 --> 00:15:47.446 For a woman it was different. 00:15:48.781 --> 00:15:53.077 That was another one of my grandmothers teachings. 00:15:53.077 --> 00:15:56.580 A man’s is different and so is a woman’s. 00:15:56.914 --> 00:16:01.669 This here is called “Piih’titwaan”. 00:16:01.669 --> 00:16:12.763 This is what men used to go hunting when they still used bows, before they used guns. 00:16:12.763 --> 00:16:13.931 Or even before beads. 00:16:13.931 --> 00:16:24.316 My grandmother said people used what was available to them for decoration. 00:16:24.316 --> 00:16:28.737 So this is smoked caribou hide and this part isn’t smoked. 00:16:28.737 --> 00:16:34.326 She said they also used red ochre for painting. 00:16:35.285 --> 00:16:37.955 This is called “Piih’titwaan”. 00:16:37.955 --> 00:16:47.423 A man would wear this and put his arrows here, so they were easy to access this way. 00:16:47.423 --> 00:16:49.842 It’s called “Piih’titwaan”. 00:16:50.300 --> 00:16:53.178 These mittens here, 00:16:53.178 --> 00:16:59.768 my grandmother said that they were all designed and decorated 00:16:59.768 --> 00:17:04.273 differently for men and women. 00:17:04.273 --> 00:17:09.111 These are for women, and these are for men. 00:17:09.111 --> 00:17:16.994 The women’s design had these pointing downward. 00:17:16.994 --> 00:17:23.375 It was because her work was on the ground such as wood, 00:17:23.375 --> 00:17:30.758 boughs, all on the ground where she worked outside. 00:17:30.758 --> 00:17:35.804 So these pointed downward. 00:17:37.139 --> 00:17:41.310 These are men’s, 00:17:41.310 --> 00:17:45.898 and their design pointed upward. 00:17:45.898 --> 00:17:52.154 Because a man looks for things upward towards the animals, 00:17:52.154 --> 00:17:58.577 so these were sewn upwards. 00:17:58.577 --> 00:18:00.621 That’s what she said. 00:18:00.621 --> 00:18:06.794 In the past this was the way when designs were made. 00:18:06.794 --> 00:18:12.841 She said they were all made in the same direction for a man and woman. 00:18:13.884 --> 00:18:19.973 When I mentioned the one way, with flowers, 00:18:19.973 --> 00:18:25.437 that it was for the female Chiefs or women who were married to the male Chiefs, 00:18:25.437 --> 00:18:27.481 it was very few of them that wore them. 00:18:27.481 --> 00:18:30.234 Not all of them. 00:18:31.068 --> 00:18:38.158 It was also for reverence of the highest game brought home. 00:18:38.158 --> 00:18:41.829 The person who owned it would wear it 00:18:41.829 --> 00:18:46.625 to honour the food when it was brought home and given to them. 00:18:46.959 --> 00:18:50.838 That one was kept inside. 00:18:50.838 --> 00:18:55.300 This one, which has no flowers, it was kept outside. 00:18:55.300 --> 00:18:57.928 Never brought inside. 00:18:57.928 --> 00:19:00.430 It was only kept outside. 00:19:01.056 --> 00:19:08.438 So these stories are those of my grandmother Mina Bearskin Tapiatic, 00:19:08.438 --> 00:19:12.442 and from some of my research. 00:19:12.442 --> 00:19:16.697 That’s where I got these stories.