Jane Shiwak
b. 1952 West Bay, NL
My work is inspired by my mother, Jane Shiwak, who was born in West Bay and has been living in Rigolet for years, running the craft shop. She makes Inuit dolls, and, as far as I know, she’s the only one in Nunatsiavut still making them. In our family, making crafts has always been there. My mom and I have always done things together. She starts the projects and then we—my sister and I —contribute to them. We will do the beadwork around [the dolls] or some of those little tedious things that she doesn’t want to do or have time to do. A lot of [learning] has been through talking to her and figuring out which way is best. She would give me ideas of what I could do or how she wanted it done and then she would start it off for me, and I would finish sewing it. It’s generally that she shows me how to do something once. I just learned that way and that’s what we do. –