NWT Arts

I started beading when I was about 14 years old. About 20 year later, I picked up moose hair tufting and moose hide tanning. I was born and raised in Fort Providence and learned how to create traditional arts through relatives. I think I enjoy beadwork the most though. A lot of my designs are prints that were passed down from my mom, but occasionally I make my own and try things I haven’t done before.

After my kids all left for school I had a lot more time on my hands, so I just kept on creating. Whenever I find spare time I usually start new pieces. Depending on the type of art, it can range from a few days to a few weeks to make a new piece. With tufting, one of the parts that takes the most time is sorting out the moose hair – you need a lot of patience!

One Christmas I created a design of a bear paw; it was an order request so I went ahead and tried it. One of the larger pieces I’ve made was a full moose hide jacket, which took nearly three weeks of steady work. The work can often be hard, but I still enjoy doing it as much as I can.