Threads of a Cree life: Montreal student unveils epic full caribou hide beadwork

The idea to bead an entire caribou hide came to Flora Weistche in a dream.

"I dreamt of my grandmother Helen sitting across the table from me, the caribou hide laid out on the table. When I looked at it, I could see the three main flowers in detail," she said.

Weistche is from the Cree community of Waskaganish, in the James Bay region of Quebec, and is currently studying at Montreal's Concordia University.

Last caribou hide

Weistche's mother gave her the hidein 2015. It was from the last caribouher father harvested back in 1979, the year Flora was born.

"I got up that next morning and I just picked up a sketchbook and I started drawing. And I took my caribou hide and I started beading," said Weistche.

Now three years and hundreds of hours of beading later, the 39-year-old unveiled the finished hide this past Friday in Val d'Or.

For CanadianIndigenous women

"I think that caribou hide was meant to fall into my hands and I believe I [was]meant to do this project," said Weistche, who drew inspiration from many different parts of her life.

Shesaid the project is dedicated to all the women who have made a positive impact on her life, as well as to Indigenous women in the Cree Nation and across Canada.

"All the flowers are different, different colours, different shapes, different style of beading. That signifies all women are different," said Weistche.

"But the flowers they all have the same life cycle, which signifies [we all] have the same life cycle."

The name of the project "My Grandmother's Garden,"or Nuuhkum Unihtaauchihchikinin Cree, is to honourWeistche's grandmother Helen, who used to take Weistche, who was sixor seven at the time, to tend local gardens in Waskaganish.

The name also paystribute to Helen's two sisters, andher first cousin Mary Katapatuk, who Weistchesays she "adopted as my grandmother" and who still beads today at the age of 100.

Threads of a Cree life: Montreal student unveils epic full-hide beadwork 'My Grandmother's Garden'

6 years ago

Duration 2:05

For Flora Weistche, beading a full caribou hide was a dream come true: literally. Watch her incredible creation come to life.

There are so many different threads of Weistche's life beaded into the project, it's hard to include them all.

Along with the three main flowers her grandmother Helen showed her in the dream, Weistchesaid she also included a recreation ofHelen's signature beaded flower that a cousin foundon an old pair of moccasins.

There are flowers representing Weistche's sisters;Pearl, Francine, Brenda and Carrie, who helped her finish the project;. There is also a butterfly, representing all the people dear to Weistche who have "passed into the spirit realm."

There is also a white butterfly with a ribbon, dedicated to a close friend who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2018.

There are bumble bees and a hummingbird designed by Weistche's 14-year-old son Tristan.

During the unveiling, the hide was showcased in a frame thatWeistche's father madeusing a technique typically used for making showshoes.

A beaded dream catcher isincorporated intothe bullet hole in the hide made back in 1979.

This was another inspiration that came from Weistche's dream as her grandmother spokethe word "hiipii" ahiipii meaning"net" in East James Bay Cree. About a year after thedream,Weistchesaid it "clicked" that her grandmother was suggesting a dream catcher.

The flowers on "My Grandmother's Garden" are growing out of a turtle's back, which dominates the bottom of the hide. The turtle represents Turtle Island for Weistche, which is what some Indigenous people call North America.

"I guess I can say it's kind of like my version of the Indigenous Creation Story, using only beads," said Weistche, who had her mother Florrie and father Sanders with her at the unveiling last Friday.

"I'm really grateful that my parents came to support me," she said, adding it was important to honour her mother and her father with the piece.

Since unveiling "My Grandmother's Garden", Weistche says she has been "overwhelmed" with support and reactionsfrom all over the world.

She plans on putting the piece in a museum-grade frame, andis nowworking on getting"My Grandmother's Garden" appraised.

Weistcheadmits to feeling a bit lost now the project is done.

"I sort of feel like there is this disconnectedness because I was connected to it for the past three years," she said. "I feel sad."

She trusts it will find the right home, "someone who will cherish it because it was made with love."

With files from Diane Icebound and StephaneGunner