WEBVTT 00:00:09.884 --> 00:00:15.724 My name is Nancy Sheshamush and I am from Whapmagoostui. 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:25.316 I will be talking about the things that students can be taught, 00:00:25.316 --> 00:00:39.414 Cree culture and the making of traditional clothing needed in cold weather. 00:00:40.123 --> 00:00:46.254 I will talk about how these items are made. 00:00:47.756 --> 00:00:54.888 I think it is important that students, young girls, should be taught this 00:00:55.847 --> 00:01:07.442 so they don’t have to rely on other people to make these for themselves or their children. 00:01:07.817 --> 00:01:13.865 They can also pass on this knowledge and this is why I do this myself, 00:01:13.865 --> 00:01:23.083 to pass on the knowledge to the younger generations, 00:01:23.083 --> 00:01:26.336 if they wish to make what the Cree people used in the past. 00:01:27.337 --> 00:01:37.847 This is the work I do, making moccasins, slippers, mittens, and gloves. 00:01:38.556 --> 00:01:49.484 I prefer to work with moosehide when I make these things, 00:01:49.484 --> 00:02:01.538 it is easier to handle because of its softness. 00:02:03.081 --> 00:02:14.467 In order to prepare the skin for sewing and making things for warm clothing, 00:02:15.343 --> 00:02:21.015 a lot of work needs to be done. 00:02:21.015 --> 00:02:26.688 Most of the time I use moosehide, 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:47.000 a lot of work needs to be done before it gets to this stage to use for sewing items. 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:55.216 After a lot of work has been done on the moosehide, 00:02:55.216 --> 00:03:04.100 it is soft enough and ready to be used for sewing different items. 00:03:04.100 --> 00:03:22.577 The moosehide can be thick or thin and I know which part to use on the things I make. 00:03:22.577 --> 00:03:31.753 For instance, the thick part is used for mittens and moccasins. 00:03:31.753 --> 00:03:40.553 I make different types of moosehide footwear, ones that are gathered or not gathered like these, 00:03:40.553 --> 00:03:46.059 and I use the thick hide for moccasins and the thin hide I use for gloves. 00:03:46.059 --> 00:03:54.359 The hide that is thin is easier to gather onto the vamp. 00:03:54.692 --> 00:04:01.991 I watched a person preparing the moosehide for different uses 00:04:01.991 --> 00:04:11.709 like laces for the webbing on snowshoes. 00:04:14.128 --> 00:04:20.301 When I make moccasins like this, 00:04:20.301 --> 00:04:30.687 I used to use the small beads for decorating them when my eyes were still good, 00:04:30.687 --> 00:04:41.489 but now I use beads like this which are larger because I can see them better. 00:04:42.615 --> 00:04:47.954 I try different ways and designs when I do my sewing. 00:04:47.954 --> 00:04:54.919 For instance, in doing the upper parts of men’s mittens, 00:04:54.919 --> 00:05:03.011 I make designs of animals, as for the women’s I use flowers for decoration. 00:05:03.219 --> 00:05:16.733 The men prefer to have designs of the animals they hunt as decorations on what they wear. 00:05:17.442 --> 00:05:25.700 What I am working on at the moment has four parts. 00:05:27.577 --> 00:05:31.247 I don’t gather on this part. 00:05:31.247 --> 00:05:40.423 There are two of these and I sew them on to this piece. 00:05:40.423 --> 00:05:45.762 First I sew this onto this part. 00:05:45.762 --> 00:05:50.683 This is the moccasin top, the vamp. 00:05:51.893 --> 00:05:58.107 Then I sew these two parts together at the heel. 00:05:58.274 --> 00:06:02.987 Then I sew the sole onto these parts like this. 00:06:02.987 --> 00:06:10.661 I use the thicker part of the moosehide on the soles of the moccasins. 00:06:10.661 --> 00:06:18.878 In using the thicker part of the hide, the soles last a long time without getting holes in them. 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:23.549 This is how I saw them being made. 00:06:25.635 --> 00:06:34.435 Sometimes when I make moccasins for my old man, 00:06:34.435 --> 00:06:54.247 I add something else on bottom of the soles to make last longer and non-slippery. 00:06:54.247 --> 00:07:05.425 When the moccasins are worn for a long period, the soles tend to get too slippery. 00:07:05.716 --> 00:07:14.851 Adding something to the sole-bottoms prevents someone from slipping when walking. 00:07:14.851 --> 00:07:24.610 I use this material which is quite thick on the foot part, it keeps your feet very warm. 00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:38.291 What I use on the leg part is a thinner, duffel material. 00:07:38.291 --> 00:07:51.596 I sewn on canvas around the legs to make them waterproof. 00:07:51.596 --> 00:08:02.273 I do different styles on the leg parts of mukluks that I make. 00:08:03.065 --> 00:08:11.240 I teach myself how to sew them and I use my own style on the design. 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:22.251 Sometimes I use the moosehide on the legs but I still put in a lining so the person’s legs don’t get wet. 00:08:22.251 --> 00:08:27.715 There are different colours of duffel. 00:08:27.715 --> 00:08:41.521 I use white duffel for the women and the darker shades for the men. 00:08:42.313 --> 00:08:45.816 There is no problem in hanging them up to dry. 00:08:45.816 --> 00:08:51.822 You can turn them inside out so both sides of the mukluks can dry out. 00:08:51.822 --> 00:09:03.918 I can also put lining on the soles, canvas, for instance, so the feet don’t get wet. 00:09:03.918 --> 00:09:09.507 I put the lining on the insides of the soles of the mukluks. 00:09:10.174 --> 00:09:20.726 These can be turned inside out when they need to be dried on both sides. 00:09:21.435 --> 00:09:26.107 I don’t always put in a lining on the sole. 00:09:26.107 --> 00:09:29.026 We all know that snow can change. 00:09:29.026 --> 00:09:37.410 In the winter the snow is dry and when the weather gets warmer, the snow can be wet. 00:09:38.244 --> 00:09:53.801 That is why I put in water repellant material on the sole so the feet don’t get wet. 00:09:54.802 --> 00:10:05.563 This is what I wanted to talk about and the same for the mittens, I use the duffel for lining. 00:10:05.563 --> 00:10:15.781 Sometimes I used different kinds of material for the lining on the mukluks and mittens, 00:10:15.781 --> 00:10:24.832 it depends on the kind of weather they will be worn in. 00:10:25.333 --> 00:10:29.629 There are different types of needles that are used in making these items. 00:10:30.254 --> 00:10:40.848 When using beads for the designs these needles are used with a strong thread 00:10:40.848 --> 00:10:47.897 in order to keep the designs on them for a long time. 00:10:49.315 --> 00:10:57.782 The thread also has different uses like the needles, 00:10:58.282 --> 00:11:05.289 ‘shiwaahkukwh’ is the Cree name of the glover’s needles. 00:11:06.791 --> 00:11:13.964 When sewing this thick felt I used a different type of thread, 00:11:13.964 --> 00:11:21.972 I don’t need to use the glover’s needles on this material because it is soft. 00:11:21.972 --> 00:11:29.105 It is not strong enough to use a glover’s needle on this material. 00:11:29.105 --> 00:11:37.655 I use the glover’s needles when sewing the thick moosehide. 00:11:40.741 --> 00:11:43.744 My name is Noah. 00:11:43.744 --> 00:11:50.126 My late father used to say about a person making a canoe, 00:11:52.253 --> 00:12:07.226 they first have to decide on how long the canoe will be. 00:12:07.852 --> 00:12:20.740 The ‘waachinaau’, the canoe rib, is the first piece of the canoe you have to shape. 00:12:21.949 --> 00:12:29.415 In order to shape the wood, it had to be immersed in hot water. 00:12:29.957 --> 00:12:34.879 The water does not always need to be hot in order for the wood to bend easily. 00:12:35.129 --> 00:12:44.805 The wood can be immersed in the water at the shore. 00:12:44.805 --> 00:12:51.687 This bending of the wood is the first process of making the canoe. 00:12:51.687 --> 00:13:02.031 To keep it in shape it is tied like this and then the next rib is shaped. 00:13:02.031 --> 00:13:09.955 The next one is tied inside the first one until there are five or six ribs tied together 00:13:09.955 --> 00:13:16.921 and then the next batch of ribs is shaped and tied together in this way. 00:13:16.921 --> 00:13:24.386 When this is done, the ribs get smaller in size. 00:13:25.554 --> 00:13:34.563 This is what my father told me about making a canoe. 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:48.369 When the ribs are ready to put in place, first a mold is dug in the sand for the canoe. 00:13:48.369 --> 00:14:06.136 The sand is first gathered and then dampened with water and molded into a canoe shape. 00:14:07.638 --> 00:14:13.936 It is left like this overnight after it has been patted down into the desired shape of a canoe. 00:14:15.020 --> 00:14:20.776 The next morning, the frame of the canoe is put into place. 00:14:20.776 --> 00:14:32.162 After this, the ‘pihkwaanaahtikuch’ gunwales are put into place over the ribs. 00:14:32.162 --> 00:14:38.377 These are called the ‘waachinaakinich’ ribs. 00:14:39.128 --> 00:14:45.009 At the edge of the canoe where there are no ribs, 00:14:45.009 --> 00:15:00.691 a piece of wood is cut thinly into a spoon-shape that can be slid into both points of the canoe, 00:15:00.691 --> 00:15:04.820 the bow and stern decks. 00:15:04.820 --> 00:15:15.789 The wood that is used for the canoe ribs is from the ‘miitus’ poplar tree 00:15:15.789 --> 00:15:20.586 and the ‘waachinaakin’ tamarack tree. 00:15:20.586 --> 00:15:31.764 Large trees are not used to make the canoe ribs. 00:15:33.724 --> 00:15:52.618 Before starting the shaping of the frame, the mold of the canoe in the sand is lined with sturdy canvas. 00:15:54.578 --> 00:16:09.468 The ribs are tied into shape with roots, not nails, before assembling them into the canoe shape. 00:16:10.302 --> 00:16:27.027 After all pieces of the frame have been put in place, the frame is wrapped up with the canvas cover 00:16:27.027 --> 00:16:34.535 and taken out of the mold in the sand. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:43.544 This piece of stone is called soapstone. 00:16:44.336 --> 00:16:49.383 Soapstone carvings were first done by the Inuit. 00:16:49.383 --> 00:17:03.731 The stone used for carving was found 35 miles north of here along the bay, inland of the first river. 00:17:03.731 --> 00:17:12.573 This is where my brother found this stone. 00:17:13.407 --> 00:17:19.705 This is where we get this stone and it doesn’t cost us anything to obtain it. 00:17:20.956 --> 00:17:31.508 I did not know how to do this myself until I saw my father carve a bird from soapstone. 00:17:31.508 --> 00:17:38.057 When he was done, he asked my mother to take it to the co-op to sell it. 00:17:38.057 --> 00:17:45.064 He was paid 75 cents for the duck figure he carved from soapstone. 00:17:45.064 --> 00:17:57.576 He used to take trips out in the bay to the town named Sanikiluaq, to get soapstone. 00:17:58.911 --> 00:18:15.594 The soapstone comes in different colours: white, yellow, red and some in blue/green. 00:18:17.429 --> 00:18:21.308 This is what he would bring back. 00:18:21.767 --> 00:18:30.275 Some of the stone that is found is too heavy and large to move 00:18:30.275 --> 00:18:43.789 so it has to be sawn or broken into smaller pieces so it is light enough to bring back. 00:18:44.790 --> 00:18:52.005 The person who will carve this stone decides what he will make from it. 00:18:52.506 --> 00:19:03.308 He decides what he will carve by looking at the height and width of the stone. 00:19:03.308 --> 00:19:18.198 He starts carving slowly with a file and a small axe along with a saw. 00:19:18.907 --> 00:19:26.248 Chisels are also used to make the carving. 00:19:26.248 --> 00:19:32.838 These come in different shapes and sizes. 00:19:32.838 --> 00:19:39.511 After the figure is done then it is rubbed with sandpaper to make it smooth. 00:19:39.511 --> 00:19:44.474 After this is done, 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:50.772 then the carving is washed with hot water 00:19:50.772 --> 00:20:00.490 and then rubbed again with smoother and finer black sandpaper. 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:14.046 After all unwanted marks of the file are smoothed out, it is rubbed until it is shiny. 00:20:17.466 --> 00:20:33.357 Shoe polish wax is used to make it as shiny as possible. 00:20:34.983 --> 00:20:41.990 After this is done, the carving is very smooth and beautiful to look at. 00:20:41.990 --> 00:20:44.326 This is how it is done.