Deishu sewers share laughs and knowledge at skin sewing class`
Share
Tweet
Lex Treinen
Cindy Hagwood shows off a nearly-completed sea-otter trapper's hat to Skeenyáa Tláa that she made at the four-day skin sewing class at the ANB Hall.
About ten women participated in a four-day skin sewing class hosted by the Chilkoot Indian Association and Sealaska Heritage Institute in Haines last week.
Teacher Scott Jackson of Kake came for the class. He said he helped teach skin sewing techniques, as well as ways to work with and tan leather.
"I was able to teach them ways to break hide, work on hide, and clean hide, and I think that was really useful for them," he said.
He said the class wasn't just about him teaching - he also learned a lot from the experienced sewers of Haines, known to many participants by its Native name, Deishu.
Midge Mcclellan-Clark was one of the most experienced sewers at the class. She said she learned to sew first at the ANB building as a teenager, but didn't sew for years.
About five years ago, she took a sewing class in a Yukon River community, where she has family roots.
"About two years ago, I did another class here, and was like 'you know what, this is what I want to do,' " she said.
She now has dozens of finished fur hats and scarves and is actively looking for a storefront where she can sell her work, and hopefully work of other women.
Mcclellan-Clark said she often sews more than 12 hours a day, sometimes until 2 or 3 a.m. Each trapper's hat can take about five days of work, from cutting leather pieces to stripping sinew to sewing it all together.
She said the class allowed her to share her own knowledge, and gain some herself.
Lex Treinen
Cheri Martin works a seal skin hide she purchased with a steel-bristled brush. Martin said she intended to make a vest from the hide.
"I learned a lot from other people. There are different stitches. Scott taught us a lot about how to take care of a hide. Different ways of matching them and cutting them to match, and where to piece them. He has a totally different sewing stitch. I want to take classes from everybody and anybody, because you're gonna learn something new from each individual," she said.
Cindy Hagwood, CIA's cultural programming coordinator, said the weekend was a success.
"We have some really talented people in this valley," said Hagwood. "It's always great when we all get together and have community and eat together.
She said the event helped establish a network of getting sea otter and other hides to the sewers of Haines, and said she hopes to host similar workshops in the future.
