Do you want a program to weave Cedar Bark Hats for 15 participants?
By working with organizations, and community groups in and around Vancouver, BC, our goal is to give indigenous people a hat, by teaching them how to weave their own, along with cultural teachings that go with it.
Our organization is setup to write grants as they become available to help your organization fulfill the eligibility requirements grants require to get the Cedar Bark Hat weaving program to you.
Program Summary
Healing through Weaving a Cedar Bark hat is a 12 week program ( 3 months ) teaching urban indigenous youth and elders the cultural practices of cedar bark weaving along with the cultural values that go with it.
Primary Creative expressions for this program include:
- Textile arts, weaving
- Storytelling, oral history, origin and cultural stories
- Language, Xaad kil (Haida) and Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish)
Project Description
Through hands on learning and storytelling participants will learn about First Nations cultural heritage through the use of language, and through the art of weaving a beautiful hat with cedar bark. The program will provide beginners of First Nations decent living off-reserve how weave their first cedar bark hat along with stories of the cultural imperatives and values that go with learning such a craft. All things being interconnected, or woven together, Giihlgiigaa and Ross will bring to each session handouts about their cultural heritage, and stories that will help them re-establish the correct way of living, and bring about security and peace of mind.
How is this program respectful of Indigenous cultural protocols, traditions and law?
We are in constant communication with local first nations such as the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh whose unceeded territory we are living and working in. If the grant requires us to get a letter from either of these three host first nations in support of this program, we can obtain them to meet that requirement.
Workplan / Program outline
The program is designed for one day a week for 12 weeks, learning about cedar bark weaving and cultural practices included with each session.
1st session - Introduction, where participants tell us about themselves, their cultural name, clan, tribe and why they are wanting to take this program. Participants will also learn about the tools for weaving and how to clean and split bark that will be used in the program.
2nd session - Beginning the spider or crown of the hat. Everything they need to know about weaving a hat begins with the spider, starting with the cross (center of the medicine wheel) adding in warps and extending wefts.
3rd session - finishing the spider and placing it on the hat form.
4th - 10th session - completing the body of the hat
11th - 12th session - ending the hat
Budget
Salaries/Wages for Todd Giihlgiigaa DeVries
Elder Knowledge Keeper Fees for Ross Muelfarth
Equipment Costs
- tool kits
- hat forms
- bowls and towels (provided in-kind from session to session)
Materials and Supplies
- raw cedar bark (up to $100 per pound)
- printed handouts
Travel Costs
- for Elder Knowledge Holder
Other Project Costs
- Snacks and refreshments
Administration
- Accounting and Book Keeping (provided by Cedar Weaving Circle Association)
- Grant Application writer (provided by Cedar Weaving Circle Association)
- Space Rentals (provided by organization)
- Accounting and Book Keeping (provided by Cedar Weaving Circle Association)
- Equipment costs such as bowls and towels (provided by Cedar Weaving Circle Association)
Letters of Support
Two letters of recommendation speaking to the merits of the proposed project and your organization's commitment to completing the program. Letters of support can be from a collaborator, industry-peer, community member, knowledge keeper or anyone you feel can speak to your organization's goals.
Please include:
- the date the letter was written
- the name and contact information of the writer, a bit about what they do
- a sentence or two about how they know the Cedar Weaving Circle members in the context of this program
- a sentence or two describing their support (ie Space Rental and Participants) for this program
- signature from the writer.
