The Arctic Trading Company has been around for over thirty years in the community of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. They have brought in art from artists across northern Canada although some of their artwork is made on-site in the trading company from caribou hair. They also make leather mukluks, slippers and mitts in a room in the rear of the store.
Picture an old-fashioned trading post. Wood floors and a heavy-beamed ceiling. Leather goods and furs for sale. If you come at the right time you might even see a trapper selling his furs.
Stick candy and smoked arctic char sit near the till. Two large tables covered with red velvet hold an assortment of carvings made from soapstone, antler and ivory.
Josephine Saunders and Gertie Beardy are behind the store and are known for their fine art of sewing slippers and mukluks with their beaded patterns and fur linings. Jessie Wastasticoot and Helen Bussidor create beautiful caribou hair tufted arrangements, each with its own spirit from the land. Jessie as well as Lorraine Chapman and Sharon Nepton also create sculptings from caribou hair.
Various art forms — from carvings and slippers to jewelry and paintings have been developed from tufting and uses natural caribou hair to depict a variety of scenes of northern life: polar bears, birds, animals and a slice of Inuit life working with the land.
As with the tuftings, handmade pictures are framed in a classic wooden shadow box frame. Inuit wallhangings are generally made from duffle, 100% wool and are often a portrait of life or they will depict a story.
The above above photo is of a northern hunting scene: two Inuk hunters chasing Nanook (polar bear) and was designed and crafted by Jessie Wastasticoot.
Below I’m talking to Josie and she shares with us what its like behind the scenes at the Arctic Trading Company. In the back of the store, they make moccasins and they’re beautiful handcrafted. Check out the machinery that is used to make them from leather, scraps, embroidery, artisan work and rabbit fur.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
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