Royal British Columbia Museum

Beaded Purse

While we were in Victoria we were also able to visit the Royal British Columbia Museum.  This museum has a vast display of First Nation artifacts from British Columbia’s Haida and Salish tribes.  To me, one of the more interesting features of this collection falls into the category of clothing and household items crafted by the women of this tribe.  I am certain my interest is captured by these displays because I do so much of that type of thing myself—knitting, beading, painting and sewing, along with my story telling.

Beaded Dress

From their original crafting skills of spinning and weaving, to later items utilizing beads and buttons that reflect the influence of their exposure to the arrival of Europeans, their work is amazing, and exquisitely creative.  I find myself wondering how they learned the original skills that led to these creations?  Imagine yourself in the middle of a Northwest forest, where you are required to fashion clothing utilizing only the natural materials you can cull from your surroundings.  Add to that mastering the skills of cooking, hunting and gathering every edible and useable item you’ll need for survival.  Imagine having to invent the techniques to even begin these tasks!

Beaded skirt and shoes

Woven buttons

Much of the Haida’s creative work was done in the colder months, when the tribe was inside their dwellings.  The Haida created elaborate log houses constructed to protect themselves from the type of weather we are presently experiencing—cold, rainy and snowy days.  Fashioned in a large, open style, the homes lent themselves to communal living where the collaboration of ideas, skills and the education of upcoming generations could easily occur.  I like to imagine groups of men or women sitting together, telling stories and demonstrating to each other the process of their creations, while a fire roared in the center of their abode.  Sometimes I wonder if the solitary activity of texting on a phone, or typing on a computer, or planting oneself in front of a television, has stolen the social aspects of creative life from us?

Mittens

Maybe that is why I like the community activities I attend here—taking a moment to share our stories, and a hug, over a cup of coffee, or sitting in a circle creating a craft, or visiting across a potluck table with neighbors.  These activities must draw upon that primal urge to gather and reveal oneself to our “tribe.”  Maybe this is also why I love to write—a small attempt to gather together the hearts, minds and souls of others to share in the experiences of this brief life on earth. 

Spindle

Blanket Weaving