[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto students reconnect with indigenous culture"
The Globe and Mail's Julien Gignac writes about a unique educational opportunity in urban Canada newly manifesting in Toronto.
During the next six weeks in Toronto, [Brittney Annand, a 26-year-old woman of Algonquin descent] will learn the age-old art of moccasin and mukluk making through classes at what has been dubbed the Storyboot School.
“This is a skill that my family lost,” she said. “I’m here because I really want to rekindle that connection with part of my past.”
On Sunday, 18 students started crafting pucker-toe or gathered-toe moccasins in a teaching space at the Bata Shoe Museum, meticulously taking measurements and cutting thick cowhide. Next steps will include sewing shoes with sinew and designing glass beadwork patterns for the vamp - the flat piece of leather above the toes - just like some of their ancestors did. Displayed in a corner of the room are different styles of knee-high mukluks adorned with vibrant flora patterns - a before and after glimpse of what can be done with the proper know-how.
The school’s mission is to reconnect indigenous people to their traditional culture and, in the process, help to preserve it.
The Storyboot School is an outgrowth of Manitobah Mukluks, a 20-year-old indigenous-Canadian enterprise, based in Winnipeg, specializing in the authentic, fair trade of hand-crafted mukluks and moccasins. So far, it has offered mukluk-making classes in Winnipeg and Toronto. A $20,000 grant from the TreadRight Foundation will help the school’s reach be more comprehensive this year.
During the next six weeks in Toronto, [Brittney Annand, a 26-year-old woman of Algonquin descent] will learn the age-old art of moccasin and mukluk making through classes at what has been dubbed the Storyboot School.
“This is a skill that my family lost,” she said. “I’m here because I really want to rekindle that connection with part of my past.”
On Sunday, 18 students started crafting pucker-toe or gathered-toe moccasins in a teaching space at the Bata Shoe Museum, meticulously taking measurements and cutting thick cowhide. Next steps will include sewing shoes with sinew and designing glass beadwork patterns for the vamp - the flat piece of leather above the toes - just like some of their ancestors did. Displayed in a corner of the room are different styles of knee-high mukluks adorned with vibrant flora patterns - a before and after glimpse of what can be done with the proper know-how.
The school’s mission is to reconnect indigenous people to their traditional culture and, in the process, help to preserve it.
The Storyboot School is an outgrowth of Manitobah Mukluks, a 20-year-old indigenous-Canadian enterprise, based in Winnipeg, specializing in the authentic, fair trade of hand-crafted mukluks and moccasins. So far, it has offered mukluk-making classes in Winnipeg and Toronto. A $20,000 grant from the TreadRight Foundation will help the school’s reach be more comprehensive this year.