Gwichin · Inuvik · Northwest Territories
Students are beading earrings with Gwich’in artist Karen Wright-Fraser
Connected North Impact Series blog prepared by Jennifer Corriero
Stories about her grandparents are shared while Gwich’in artist Karen Wright-Fraser teaches students to bead earrings with local tanned traditional moose hide during Connected North sessions. She prepares the kits with all the materials herself and teachers especially appreciate how she threads the needle as this can be a challenge for beginners.
“The fact that we received the materials from Connected North was a game changer. I’m in an isolated community and resources can be scarce and expensive to get and ship here.” Teacher
Karen enjoys sharing new techniques while learning about some of the communities across Northern Canada and describes her favourite part of a session as the moment students complete their project.
“I’ve seen a student that was very quiet. After they were done, they were beaming with pride. I could see them slowly coming out of their shell. That felt really good.”
She is based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and was raised in Inuvik where Connected North has active participating schools involved in the program.
“We enjoyed the story she shared about her Grandfather. Additionally the packages she put together for the beaded earrings offered both variety and simplicity in the activity.” Teacher
These sessions allow younger generations to reconnect with their traditions while learning from an artist who combines both contemporary and traditional styles to create a wide variety of items using hides, furs, beads and bones.
“Karen is lovely. I like how she showed us some of her advanced earrings and talked about the tanned fish skin leather.” Teacher
