Introduction-E

Introduction to sewing
By Nancy Kisa
My theme is “Introduction to sewing.” I chose this theme because I am interested
in how girls were taught to sew in the old days, sewing sealskin and caribou
skin. Right now, our generation doesn’t really know how to sew seal and
caribou skin. There may be a minority who know how to sew, but there aren’t that many
who do. We are focusing more on education and working than on sewing. In those days,
women sewed all day. I always wanted to learn how to sew seal or caribou skin, but I
have been working or in school. I knew a little bit about sewing, but not about sewing
seal or caribou skins. I used to enjoy sewing, but education and work are more
important to me. Whenever I get a chance I would love to do more sewing.
I interviewed the elders about my theme. The first question I had was about when
girls first learned how to sew. Elisapee’s answer was that it happened whenever the girls
thought that they could do it. All the girls would start to sew inuujait, dolls. I asked
Saullu who made the inuujait. She told me that her dad would make them for the girls.
They were made out of caribou antler. The most difficult of the inuujait clothing to sew
would be the parka. Saullu said that her mother would measure the materials that she
was going to sew. Elisapee compared starting to sew with school. It is challenging, but
you have to keep on trying because that’s the only way you can learn. All the girls
learned how to sew from their mothers. When they started to get used to making
inuujait clothing they would move on to bigger things such as kamiik and clothing.
Pauloosie said that he would bring sewing equipment with him when he went out
hunting just in case he needed it for an emergency. I asked him if he ever used it and he
said he did, when his mitten seams started to fall apart. During the summer time, when
he went out caribou hunting if the sole of his kamik would start to get thin, before there
was a hole, he would start sewing another sole on top. I asked him if he also sewed at
home and he said he didn’t because his wife was around.
I asked Elisapee and Saullu where they got their sewing equipment. They said they
used their mother’s equipment. Elisapee said that when she was living with her
husband, she still didn’t own sewing equipment. The great challenge was to make
kamiik. Elisapee said that when she first started to sew kamiik it was really hard, and it
would take a while to make them. If she was doing a bad job her mother would have
her start all over again, until she was doing it right. The most difficult part would be the
upper part of the kamik that is called the qingajjiniq. They would have to sew it twice so
it would be waterproof. If they didn’t sew it the right way, the kamiik wouldn’t be
waterproof, and that meant they would have wet feet. She also mentioned that her
mother would tell her that she wouldn’t be around for ever, so her mother was making
sure that she did learn how to sew. Saullu said the difficult part was the heel part. If she
144 Introduction to the Oral Traditions