Kivalliq women make sealskin wind pants at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, workshop
Participants had to work on the pants an extra day than was expected
Eight women from the Kivalliq region of Nunavut were in Rankin Inlet last week learning how to make sealskin wind pants for hunting.
Ilitaqsiniq, an organization that serves as a literacy council and cultural program provider in the territory, organized the multi-day workshop. Emily Tagoona from Rankin Inlet, along with sisters Rosemary Sandy from Rankin Inlet and Mona Netser from Coral Harbour, were the instructors.
Sandy said in Inuktitut that she and her sister both learned to sew from their mother.
Amber Irwin, Ilitaqsiniq's program coordinator, helped to organize the workshop and participated in it herself. She said the sealskins were purchased from local women who cleaned and dried the skins themselves.
One of the first tasks for participants in the workshop was to soften the skins – a process that Irwin said took two days alone. The pants were supposed to be done by Friday, but the women ended up staying an extra day on Saturday to finish them.
Irwin said she learned that precision is important when it comes to making wind pants.
"We've all taken apart our stitches more than once and we've all gotten better every time we were corrected – I think that's something I'll never forget," said Irwin.
Alice Mannik, from Baker Lake, said perfection was also one of her takeaway lessons.
"The cutting has to be precise … and the stitching has to be precise," she said.
She attended the workshop to learn a new skill – and so she could pass it along to other women living in her community. On Friday, before the pants she was working on were finished, she said: "I'll be excited and happy when it's done."
Irwin said more than 80 people from across the Kivalliq region had applied to participate in the workshop. One woman from each community was able to participate, plus herself.
"Being around a group of ladies all day making the same thing … we've gotten really close," she said. "It's very healing for your hands, your soul, your mind."
With files from Selma Eccles