Carrying on traditions
Market showcases works of Indigenous artisans' arts and crafts
“I just love doing it. I used to do it to provide for my family. Now I do it for the joy of doing it.” Barbara Bernard
When Barbara Bernard was growing up, she used to watch her brother and cousin make things with beads. Her parents, too, were artisans, weaving baskets and hoops for lobster traps. But Bernard didn’t get into beadwork until she was 28.
After that, she never stopped, Bernard said in a Nov. 26 interview with Saltwire Network.
“I’m 62 now, so you do the math.”
Bernard was one of dozens of artisans, artists and crafters who set up booths at the annual Indigenous Artisans Christmas Market on Nov. 26.
The one-day event at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown brought together painters, photographers and writers, along with workers in traditional crafts like beads, baskets
and quill.
The craft fair circuit is nothing new to Bernard. After growing up in Scotchfort, Bernard moved to Charlottetown for about 10 years and used beading to support her family, she said.
“I used to go to the farmers' market and stuff like that. And the flea markets, I used to do those a lot. And then I moved back home and started work, and it kind of took away from it. So, I just do a little bit at a time now.”
NEXT GENERATION
Today, she carries on the craft more for fun than necessity, she said. Still, with inflation and the rising cost of living, Bernard noted the benefit of having supplemental income.
Coming from a family of artisans, Bernard is also keen to teach others what she has learned, she said.
“Because it’s an art. It’s been handed down from my brother.”
Sometimes this means teaching the next generation, like her 12-year-old granddaughter, who is learning to make lanyards. Other times, it’s about teaching her peers, Bernard said.
“These lanyards, I taught a bunch of women to do them in our community, and they were making them for conferences and stuff like that.”
ART ON DEMAND
Miranda Crane, owner and operator of Knots by Miranda, says events like the market are important for Indigenous artisans. Crane, whose daughter and ex-husband are Indigenous, got into macrame at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To get ideas for Christmas decorations, Crane looked on websites like Pinterest to see what was trendy this year, she said.
“Anything Christmasrelated was kind of like, I’ll think of something and go, ‘Can I make that?’”
Other items she does on demand when people send in pictures asking if she can make them. Either way, it takes a long time, with all the work done by hand, she said.
“There's a lot of cramping and resting.”
Like Bernard, though, she enjoys the work, she said.
“I just love doing it,” Bernard said. “I used to do it to provide for my family. Now I do it for the joy of doing it.”