Inuvik 2010 Craft Fair

SIMply beAutIful Art work gAtherS huNdredS IN INuvIk

Inuvik held its annual craft fair on the last weekend of November at the Midnight Sun Complex drawing in hundreds of people from the surrounding communities. Artists poured in numbers displaying their crafts, which included hand-made mittens, boots, hats, stuffed animals and more.

Clockwise (from top): Annie Goose, from ulukhaktok conveys that the territorial government's Genuine mackenzie valley Furs program had made furs more accessible. " our hunters in our communities go on the ocean. t he fur goes out of our community and gets tanned, and then it's sent back up to the communities for women to purchase and made into crafts. each woman’s work has its own distinctive style. p eople can easily tell the artist behind the works'. mary okheena, from ulukhaktok was selling prints made on heavy paper with brushes and dry powder ink. Images in her catalogue include animals, children sledding, arctic sports, hunting scenes, the blanket toss, and traditional Inuvialuit life. Agnes kuptana, from ulukhaktok who began sewing at a very young age. kuptana conveys, "when I was growing up, we lived in the hunting camps. In the evening, we would listen to stories from our grandparents while scraping skins. t hey taught us how to make patterns and trace it out, and how to sew and stitch. t hey watched us closely. If we made a mistake it was okay — they told us to keep sewing and that the next item would turn out better”. Judy o kheena conveys, "I learned how to sew from my grandmother, my father, and my mother. t hey taught me how to sew my own clothing that I would wear for the winter. We made different clothing for spring, summer and winter," okheena added that crafts provide a much-needed economic boost to communities. "Some women, if they don't have work, they can spend time by sewing.