Week 9: Traditional Practices

Apologies for the format - I can't figure out Blogger this week. My input screen looks like html code for some reaason and I'm not a coder lol. Videos: I must say the videos this week were personally inspiring. I had day-dreams of leaving my job and becoming a rope maker or something of the like. From age 12 to 25 my job was a farmer. From 25 to now, 38 I’ve been a teacher. I have a friend who has become a part time blacksmith, which arose from a hobby. He has his own forge and classes come to take part and learn. Dancing braids is definitely something I’d like to do someday with students. Personally, I’d like to investigate the math a bit deeper. Watching the Vest-ed Interest video about sheep wool and making clothing seemed like a nice way to address the environmental impacts of the modern clothing industry. That being one of the math for social justice issues in our previous course. I find it relates to traditional kamik and mitt making in the NWT. From experience handmade mitts are much warmer and flexible than their industry made counterparts. I remember a simple pair of rabbit fur mittens being the most comfortable way to keep my hands warm walking around town in temps that went to the negative forties. So from my experience I tend to use handmade items for winter as practicality and as an added benefit it has less environmental impacts. Activity: I must say, I learned a lot just ripping strips from old fabrics. I figured I’d need to use scissors to get nice straight even widths but I only needed my hands.

I found the braiding process quite soothing. It would be something I could do to let my mind unwind. The act of ripping the strips from the fabric was also a bit of a stress reliever. I thought about how there could be so many science experiments that could come from rope making and braiding. For instance, how does the strength of one fabric strip compare to three strips braided together? Is the relation linear or something else? Other investigable question could be: How does friction between strands contribute to the overall strength of a braided rope? What is the relationship between the diameter of a rope and its load-bearing capacity? What mathematical models can describe the braiding patterns and their impact on rope strength? Article: This week I read the APTN article ‘The spirit of the medicine will lead us back’: How Avis O’Brien is guiding Elders to weave their first cedar hats By Anna McKenzie. It describes Avis ‘Nalaga’ O’Brien’s journey to and experience with teaching We Wai Kai and We Wai Kum elders how to weave their first cedar hats. Twelve years prior Avis was feeling disconnected from her culture but started learning how to weave from her sister. At the start of her weaving journey she still wanted nothing to do with it or her culture. However, the healing power of the cedar began to make her interested in her culture. Today she describes, “It’s like we’re giving back these Elders something that was taken to them, taken from them through our history,” she says. “It’s pretty magical.” One elder, Wasden, “says she believes cedar is “who we are and where we come from. It’s entwined in everything we do — from birth on a cedar mat, to death in a cedar box. It’s used for potlatches, for skirts, wreaths, head pieces. It was used for storage, cooking, blankets, mats, and even personal hygiene.” My question this week is: What science questions do you see coming from exploring these traditional practices like weaving?