Bethel Native Artist Profile; Storyknifing & Lucy Beaver, Skinsewer

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . .. .. .. When we used to go out and make, you know, to tell stories and mud with our story knives, we used to make sure that we have a good story knife and then we would find a real nice place

and bring some mud if there's no good mud there to, you know, make our, make our story places with, we'd bring our own mud in, we would pick up grass and like this one here, we'd put it under us so we don't get dirty. Sometimes we use cardboard and then before we go out we make sure that we have something to, you know, chew, like gum or, if we don't have gum, we would steal some little bit of tobacco from our mother or our father's backs and then we'd bring that stuff so we can have saliva to spit on our story place. So when we erase the, you know, erase the story that the images we put under the story place like this, you know, sometimes it's kind of hard to erase so when we spit, it helps to erase and it makes your going like this easier.

And then we chew sometimes we would chew young grass like this green ones like this, that gives saliva. And then we tell stories, we'd spend hours and hours telling stories, that used to be one of my favorite past times. And then when we, in the summertime when our mothers don't have anything to do, sometimes they'd gather around after they eat, when we're outside, you know, sometimes we eat outside. They'd gather and they would tell stories too about their relatives and unusual happenings that happened a long time ago to their men, to their friends. We'd mostly used to tell about Grandmother in her granddaughter or grandson.

The grandson is always the one with no parents, you know, the parents had died or something. And the grandmother would be taking care of the, that grandchild until they grew and are able to take care of themselves, they go hunting or they get married. Those are the things we used to mostly tell. And then we used to tell some other stories like we'd go very picking or go egg hunting. And then at the end of the day, you know, when the sun stays up for a long time in the summertime. We would eat and then do out and tell stories about what happened that day and where we found a nest and stuff like that. And where we found all the berries and how our, you know, how our day went.

And it would always be interesting. It's never boring. We always had fun. Sometimes, not a little kids would come, hire younger sisters or younger brothers or cousins, and not a little kids would just gather around and listen to the stories we told. Can we never get bored? Sometimes, we used to do it on the snow, you know. This is a girl's thing here.

I never, in fact, I never see any boys tell stories under my days to come around and listen to the stories told. We would save our story knives for the next summer. We just put them away in a good place, you know, where nobody else will handle them. We used to have, sometimes we'd bring in mud for the winter, you know, on a board or a cardboard paper. So we could tell stories in the house. And when our mothers don't have anything to do, they tell the stories and we used to really enjoy that. Even though we didn't have TV, we used to have just a lot of fun. Sometimes, I wish my children would, you know, enjoy those little things instead of watching TV out of time. Sometimes, telling stories under mud is the way we passed down our, you know, legends like how the fox got red and how the crane got its blue ice.

That's how we learned our, you know, legends stories by word of mouth. And I don't think we would have learned them any other way if there was no, you know, telling stories under mud. That's how we learned them. Sometimes, when we go to bed at night days to have my dad tell a story or my mother tell a story. And then if I learned those stories, I would tell them on the mud, you know, to my friends. Even if we sometimes care stories over and over again, they're always fun, you know. Maybe it's because we make these images under mud. That's what makes it used to even more interesting and not boring because sometimes they tell scary stories. Sometimes, really funny ones, sometimes really sad ones.

And then when they told stories, they always used to go, you know, they always go, you know. Just make the stories really interesting and exciting. So they, you know, they sound and little things they do. This uncle called him. Hey, you boy. Come over here. Bring a bundle of fish to your mother. Come and get it. He got really happy because somebody talked to him nicely this time. He went over. He went into his house. Went to his house and he says, hey, uncle, I need to talk to you.

I've been getting into all kinds of trouble today and understanding people other way around. I dropped an old lady right to her, but, and then another thing I need to cut my, my mom's favorites in because she told me to cut it out. She knows kind of things I don't understand and his uncle explained to him the way he should understand. He's explaining everything. Lucy Beaver was born October 10, 1914. While her family was traveling to a fall camp not far from Nunaputja.

She grew up in Nunaputja, which was their home village when they were not in their fall or spring camps. While still a young girl, Lucy Mary George Beaver, who was originally from Bethel. George Beaver's great grandmother on the father's side was one of the three old women who were the first to camp in Bethel. Her's was the first house that was built here. George and Lucy had 14 children but seven died. She delivered all of her children at home by herself except for the last two who were delivered in the hospital. George Beaver died several years ago, leaving many grandchildren and great grandchildren. And it is these children Lucy especially likes to sew and make things far. She also sews for her children and their spouses. Aside from her sewing, cooking and caring for her family, Lucy's other interest is her church.

She's a faithful member in the Moravian church and is a special soloist. She sings many church hymns from memory. Lucy says she relies on God and loves to sing while sewing or preparing food. Oh, there's two that you'll be known and new. I got you my sign of food. You know those stories telling nice in the museum, the wooden ones? I realize now that I learned the art of skin sewing by using the story knife. When I was a young girl, I dearly loved to play with the story knife. After my mother put my boots on in the morning and after I put my pork on, I would take my story knife out, which I usually placed under the mattress every evening and go outside.

The first note that is smooth, I would start at one end and start drying, pretending to make my cooks, pretending to make progress, putting down or drying whatever I like by using my story knife. That is how I learned about sewing, by making designs with my knife on the snow. And when I started sewing on skin, I made them like the things I drew with my story knife. Did you have someone teaching you how to sew? No, I didn't have anyone teaching me.

You just watched? Yes, I just watched. One woman taught me how to make good sew. How to sew those boots on. At first I sewed them badly and I would only do what I did. After I married, my husband used to have me sew. He'd let me sew on my own. I was a young girl then and I enjoyed being outside. I wouldn't want to sew. And I'd cry because I hated to sew. You teach any sewing now.

Are you teaching anyone how to sew? I only tell them how or cut out the material for them. For people who want to make the same kind of things I do, I show them how. I use paper patterns and up to this day people come in here and leave with paper patterns and I give them. When you make something to sew or when you make something for someone, do you make them the same? I sew things all the same. I don't think differently about any of them, whether I'm sewing something to sew or otherwise. I try to sew on them all equally well. Even the ones you're going to sell, the ones I'm going to sell or something for my family,

I work on them all the same way. I treat them all the same. Which of the things he sewed you look forward to doing the most? I like to work on things to wear on one's feet and on things to wear over the body. You know those things that would keep a person warm, something that he could use. Because they are useful, because they are useful. These are the things I like to work on more than the others. They are something to use for the body's warm. The way you sew, perhaps it is not the same as the way your mother sewed. Perhaps she made different things, different items, different from the things you make now.

Or perhaps she used different first. Yeah, she used first and she sometimes helped me when I first started sewing. When I first started making parkas. How about her way of making designs? Do you make the same designs and trimming as she did? Yes, I do some of the things she did. I use the same decorations, but they seem to be better than hers, because I have many more things to work with. So you have more things to work with than your mother did? Yes, I have many different items to work with. Would you tell a little bit about how some families had their own designs or decorations? Villagers had their own designs.

In some villages, they had parkas that were like the ones made in the Yukon. They talked about Yukon's styles. They were the ones decorated here around the chest. You know, they make these decorations out of calf skin, cutting them up into small pieces, geometric designs. The designs on the chest area were made like that, but they were just long pieces. That design is from the Yukon area. I have a finished parking here that I still have to finish with pastels. I'm making it for my daughter-in-law, Charlie's wife. They say this is a northwest coast style. They have a hood like this out of calf skin. Even though it is not your family design, even though it is not our family or area design, I use it because I like it.

I am making these parkas for my family, decorating them like this. I'm making them for my son's wives, but I still have to make one more for the wife of the owners of these mittens. I haven't made one for her yet. I'm nearly finished making parkas for all of my daughters-in-law. And this parka is for Charlie's wife. I'll finish it after I put tasels on this other one. So we use designs and decorations you choose, even though they are not your family designs. I use what I like. Perhaps in some villages they are designs differ, either in this area or out in the Yukon area. Is that right? They are different or they are not the same. Even the upper area designs and decorations are different from this area.

Are the decorations and designs different in men's clothing? The design or decoration and men's parkas are different. They are never the same as the women's parkas. The men's parkas are like this, that is when they have parkas that are decorated. When a man has a decorated parka it will have a border and on that shoulder area will be a strip of Wolverine. And also on the shoulder is a piece of white calf skin. And then there are three Wolverine tasels here, under the Wolverine strip on the shoulder. And here on the breast are two, one across the other. And down there is one tasel and on the back of the parka on the lower left side is another. And on the back there is a Wolverine tail, each side flanked with a tasel. They say the tasel on the lower right side is part of the one in the back.

These represent pretend arrows. The arrow is shot, it goes into a person and goes through on the other side. Those people in the past used to say that this is why that decoration of a tasel was put on. This pretend arrow that was shot into a man. And this is a big step, which is to be shot, to be shot, to be shot, to be shot, to be shot, to be shot. How about children's parkas? The children's parkas, the little boys' parkas were also like that. They were like the men's. You mentioned that certain first were used by men in the past.

Is that right? I'm not. That was the reality. Aren't what are they again? Am I scratch? Would you tell about that? There was musgrads, you call them davilit, but we call them kanaklit. Different villages have different terms for some things. That village says davilit, and in another village they'll say kanaklit. The back fur was used for men's parka. The back fur of the musgrads, the men's parkas were made out of them, and the women only, the belly fur. One probably saw skin differently, according to what kind it is. Some skins are very difficult to sew on, and these reindeer leg skins are very hard to prepare or soften.

The leg skins are especially hard to do. We worked very hard using these scrapers to work on those legs. The reindeer skins to prepare them. We worked very hard sweating to do two legs. That is why I tell them, others don't like to buy maklaks made out of reindeer legs, because they know how hard it is to work on them. But even though they are hard to work on, I work on them because I get some benefit from my work. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them.

I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them.

I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them.

I use these scrapers to prepare them. I use these scrapers to prepare them.