More than Moccasins

In the months before Ski Week in February, Shawnigan Lake School hosted an Anishinaabe moccasin workshop every Thursday evening. In this workshop, I learned about the traditional ways Indigenous peoples in Canada make moccasins and gauntlet gloves, especially focusing on Indigenous groups from the Great Lakes region. The workshop helped me understand not only how these items are made, but also why they are important and how the skills have been passed down through generations.

 

One of the main things I learned was how to sew by hand. This was an important skill because everything had to be stitched carefully and strongly. I also learned how to tell the difference between good-quality and lower-quality leather by feeling the thickness, strength, and flexibility of the material. Another interesting part of the workshop was learning what has changed over time with modern tools and materials, and what has stayed the same. One of the big differences is that sinew traditionally is from the ligaments of animals, and it was very short, but due to the advances in technology is now synthetic and made in rolls. This means that you can get a lot more easily. Many of the traditional techniques are still used today because they work well and have cultural meaning.

 

During the workshop, I made several items, including a pair of moccasins with beadwork, a pair of gauntlet gloves that I planned to use during Ski Week, and a small coin pouch for loose change. Some of the challenges with beadwork are working with tiny beads – in this case size 11, which are roughly 2mm in diameter; the fact that you are using a very skinny string and needle to sew with; and a couple of times when we spilled the tiny beads all over the floor and had to spend a while picking them all up. I also tried leather burning, also called pyrography, but after practicing it, I decided not to use it on any of my final pieces. I liked that we were encouraged to experiment and make our own choices.

 

My favourite thing to make was the moccasins. I especially enjoyed doing the beadwork and seeing all the parts come together at the end. Making moccasins involves three main parts: the liner layer, the beadwork, and the outside layer. The hardest part was sewing everything together because I had to stitch through four thick layers of leather by hand. Even though it was challenging, it felt very rewarding to finish them.

 

Overall, I have made three different and unique items that I am really proud of. This workshop was a very different teaching experience than I was used to, and I really enjoyed that. It was a class that you go to in the evening to listen to some music and joke around with your peers while learning about the Indigenous culture and developing new skills that have caused me to create some meaningful memories and some handmade items that I will remember and use for a long time.