National Native American Heritage Month Bead Coloring page

 

Do'inta? Se uzra Shala Kerrigan.

How are you? My name is Shala Kerrigan. 

I only have a handful of words in my language, which is Lower Tanana Athabascan. 

This coloring page is based off the style of bead embroidery done by Athabascans up here in Alaska. 

I hope you enjoy it! 

Click the images below for larger versions to download/print/color. 

Small jpg version of bead work coloring page: 

Large transparent png version of bead work coloring page: 

 

Culture Camp- Part 1

William and TG at the Alaska Native Heritage Center

This is going to be a few posts because I took a LOT of photos.

Last month, my children and I had a chance to go to a culture camp. If you're not indigenous, culture camps are a way to learn about our heritage from Elders and people who live a traditional life. This one was a mixed culture camp, centering on Traditional Foods for the various indigenous people from Alaska. We were really excited about it.

It took place at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. This is definitely a place you should visit if you're ever in Anchorage. They have a village area set up in the back of the museum with the various building structures used by the tribes up here. The grounds grow a lot of plants that are used traditionally for food and medicines. It's educational and interesting and they focus on creating opportunities for Native peoples. There are young interns who do presentations, and there is dancing and indigenous artists selling beautiful things.

My family is Tanana Athabaskan. We come from the interior, even though my children and I have lived in Anchorage our whole lives. If you have younger children, you may be watching Molly of Denali with them. Molly is Athabaskan too.

The first day of camp, a whole bunch of us were processing salmon for canning. So we went straight to work. TG, William and I were in the classroom a little early, so we helped the teacher set up.

Salmon is preserved in a lot of ways, and canning is a modern one and important. We learned how to pack salmon into jars, why our teacher preferred jars to cans and we cut and packed up a lot of salmon.

TG processing salmon

At the end of the day, I asked TG and William if they had fun. They had worked, listened to a presentation on safe canning methods, and we walked around the museum some. I also got myself a pair of baleen hair sticks from one of the artists on side.

They both agreed it was a whole lot of fun. 

The qaspeq that TG is wearing is one that belonged to her grandmother. It's about 50 years old. You can get my free qaspeq coloing page here-Qaspeq/Kuspuk Coloring Page. 

A couple days later, we got to work on canning the fish. 

The salmon was packed into the jars raw. You can see what it looks like before and after canning in this photo. Canning it cooks it, and the bones soften so much that they can be eaten. A good source calcium!!  Canning can also be used to preserve other meats using a pressure canner. Our local extension service has instructions for canning walrus!! Becky told us how she made her canned moose stew. 

We also had a class on safety procedures. That was good. TG won a water bottle in that class and she was really happy. 

I missed a class on plants because I had an appointment. TG and William took extensive notes and enjoyed the class a lot. They both came home with jars of yarrow salve from that class. 

The plant class I did take, taught by Meda DeWitt was about nettles. We went out and picked some nettles, and stripped them. We learned about how to use the seeds to make a tincture, how to use the leaves for tea and food, and then made a simple hand-spun twine using the fiber. 

Then we got a presentation from Chef Sean Sherman. That was fantastic. If you don't know who Chef Sherman is- he is a James W. Beard award winning chef with a passion and vision for indigenous foods. He is also known as the Sioux Chef. 

I went totally fangirl when I found out he was going to be here! A couple friends of mine from Minnesota who had been to some of his presentations told me how much I was going to enjoy it. 

An Elder gifted him with some muktuk (whale fat and skin) that he shared. It was the first time that my children had tried muktuk. It was not the last time that week they had muktuk. They both loved it. Chef Sherman said it tasted like the sea. 

Chef Sean Sherman sharing muktuk. 

His vision is wonderful. It's about creating new recipes and learning the old recipes. Finding how which foods have been traditionally harvested in various regions, wild foods, foraged foods. He wants to empower indigenous people to set up businesses both for supply and finished products such as restaurants. It is an exciting vision and you can find out more at The Sioux Chef and NATIFS.

If you're interested in Chef Sean Sherman's book, you can buy it using the link below. Amazon affiliate links won't affect your price, and the small commission they pay helps fund this page.

Qaspeq/Kuspuk Coloring Pages

A friend of mine up here who teaches school and has been making traditional qaspeqs for years is planning to teach her students to make them. That inspired these coloring pages. They can be used to experiment with color combinations and trim ideas.

(learn more about qaspeqs HERE) 

The stars in the upper left quarter are the stars that are on the Alaska state flag. The flowers on the right are fireweed- we use the blossoms for jelly, the leaves for tea and we eat young shoots. Another traditional way to eat them is to split more mature ones, sprinkle them with sugar and scrape them out with your teeth and use what's left to make cordage. Lower left hand quarter is Alaska's state flower- forget-me-not.

Click on the images below for larger versions to print.

Shortie/Boy's style qaspeqs:

Small jpg version:

Large transparent png version:

Girl's style skirted qaspeq-

Small jpg version:

Large transparent png version:

TG and I took a kuspuk sewing class together

Recently I wrote about a drum making class that I took with William and TG. The class is part of a series for Alaskan Natives/Native Americans that are meant to build wellness and community.

Today and yesterday, TG and I went to a kuspuk/qaspeq making class. Kuspuks are not part of our tradition. They are Yupik traditionally. The original version was made of skin and meant to cover and protect fur clothing. The advent of flour sack fabrics and calicos led to brightly colored, gorgeous fabric variations.

In Alaska, they are more ubiquitous than parkas. They are a uniquely Alaskan, super functional garment. They can be adapted easily. You may have seen photos of our Senator Murkowski wearing one, and in our state legislature, Qaspeq Friday is a regular occurrence.

The teacher of the class is planning to put up youtube video how tos and I'm absolutely going to give you all the link when it happens. I gave her my e-mail address so she could let me know when they were available. Angel Oliveira is a fantastic teacher and has taught a lot of people to make them.

TG generally sleeps until 8:30 am. I told her "Classes start at 8 you know." We agreed to go early and have breakfast first.

We got there, and oh my goodness! All the fabric choices! After careful consideration and a lot of back and forth, I settled on just a blueberry fabric. I was strongly tempted to add in a bright orange with it. They can be made with different fabrics all together in one garment and look gorgeous that way. TG chose a gold and blue fabric. We opted for the same trim.

TG is generally a hand sewer- and in fact, plans to hand sew one for her brother. For the class, we used sewing machines.

It was a lot of fun. After the first day, we had our hoods, cuffs and pocket done.

Today, we finished putting them together, I opted for a more traditional skirted kuspuk. Something that I can wear out berry picking on slightly chilly fall days. It will go great with jeans or leggings! Here I'm wearing it with a dress it completely covers.

There was one lady there who was super enthused over every lesson she learned and that was a blessing. It's good to see people happy about learning. TG's sense of pride in her finished kuspuk was wonderful too. 

Angel asked the class why we took it. TG said "Because I want to learn to make kuspuks and it was something I could do with my mom." and everyone, including me, was very "AWWW!!" 

Stand out moments for me, less about sewing than about life lessons and experiences. 

Angel and another teacher were talking about how they wanted to teach, so that the people they taught could go on and share it, could teach others. The lady she was talking to was speaking specifically of a salve class. That the class was filled to capacity, but she believed that people who were in the class would go on to teach their new found skills to other people. That's one of those things that's super important to me. It's not enough to learn, but at some point, you have to teach. Teaching helps you think of things differently, it helps you to verbalize exactly why some things work and others don't, it helps you learn what more you can learn. We all have things to teach and learn. 

It's the single candle thing, but in this case, that candle is culture and community. It's belonging. 

There was a mass casualty exercise in the building. We weren't really affected by it in the classroom, but you could hear the shouting. I'm glad for the exercise, for the fact that my family's care providers were making sure they were as prepared as possible, but it's a lot to think about it and I'm not quite done thinking about that yet. 

Once a month, Traditional Healing does a cleansing and blessing on their offices. We happened to be there while they were doing it. That was amazing and wonderful. I was wearing my reading glasses so I didn't recognize my healer until she was walking out but I did point her out to TG. Buz, who is a manager there, has a wonderful singing voice. There was prayer, songs, dancing and drumming. It was good. 

After leaving class, we stopped to say hello to a friend and people complimented my blueberry kuspuk and asked if I made it. I said "YES! Just finished it!"

And now for my FAVORITE photo of the day. 

This is Angel, our teacher, showing TG on a 50 year old kuspuk that belonged to my mother, how to make a pattern for one for her brother. This kuspuk has a full zipper, and plain sleeves instead of cuffs, with a separated pocket. When TG found it in her grandmother's things, it had a long rip down one sleeve. TG bought thread to match, and very carefully hand stitched it back together. It's very precious to her, and it brings me joy to see her wear her grandmother's kuspuk. That she learned from that one how to make one for her brother is such perfect balance.