Old boats and weaving? Indeed!
We spent a morning at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. It was here I was stunned by how weaving fit into the ancient history of the far northernmost parts of Canada.
The traders and voyagers who used the marvelous birch bark canoes had to have vessels to store their goods in, and what did they use? Baskets. Woven baskets made of leather or strips of reeds and wood. They also had to travel on snow, and what did they use here? Snow shoes made of woven animal sinew stretched on wood frames. And the ever-present Hudson Bay Blankets are still stunningly efficient.
But for me the most exciting was the finger weaving of sashes or ceinture fléchée. Strips of woven cloth in vivid colors and patterns attracted me to a hands-on opportunity to try it myself. And the best part? I got a book, Fingerweaving Untangled to bring home for sharing and continuing to learn about this amazing technique.
Another stop displaying wonders of hand weaving in a canoe museum of all places.
Click on any of the images below to see larger photos.
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- Basket
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- Snowshoes
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- Cienture fléchée
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- Patty trying cienture fléchée
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- Patty doing cienture fléchée
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- Another cienture fléchée
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- More cienture fléchée
Beth, alas, our whole group didn’t get to visit– Patty was there with her husband. But I know that now if any of us are getting up that way, we’ll be sure to pay y’all a visit! 🙂
Hi Patty,
I’m the Artisan Program Coordinator at the Canadian Canoe Museum and I’m so happy to hear that your weaving group came for a visit! Next time you’re here you should give me a call first and we’ll set your group up with a tour guide.
I’m also a big fan of Carol James’ book Fingerweaving Untangled Carol also just sent the museum a sample copy of her new book ‘Sprang Unsprung’ which is also worth a look. I had no idea sprang was something that was common in North America until I took a look through the new book – very interesting!
Thanks for blogging about your trip, it looks like you’ve got an active group of weavers!
Beth
Carol, thank *you* for producing such amazing resources to keep these wonderful techniques alive! You’ve warmed my heart as well with your kind comment on our site 🙂
And yes, thank you, Patty, for sharing the cool finds from your travels with us! 🙂
Now this warms my heart.
I am the author and publisher of Fingerweaving Untangled.
Thanks to the Canoe Museum for promoting this heritage technique.
Thanks to Patty for helping to spread the word.
Carol James