Seal Skin Mitt Class

Sometime in the summer too I took a seal skin mitten making class. It was awesome. Over a week end we all made a pair of seal skin mitts.
This is all the mitts that were made by the students and instructors.

 The instructor was a woman from Ulukhatok, a small community on the west coast of Victoria Island, she and a friend of hers who was helping brought their ulus and not only showed us how they were used but let us use them. I like the mitts but in a way my favourite part was the chance to use this traditional woman's tool.

The class was offered by the Museum of Northern Life here in Fort Smith.

Using the ulu was my favourite part but the most moving part was when the daughter of the instructor, a grown woman in her mid twenties I would guess, was looking at a picture of Ulukhaktok with obvious longing. She was missing her home so much it hurt to watch. Communities are so far apart in the North, flights are very expensive so people can find themselves far away from home for long periods of time.