By Jenny Van Sickle, Staff Writer
In far northern Wisconsin on the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation, a craft group meets once a week threading important needles and building skills throughout the community. Bridgette Mayotte, Ikwewag Advocate with Bad River’s Zhawenindig Program, recently ordered and organized all the necessary materials, supplies, and custom patterns to make some moccasins. Participants would have a lot of fabrics to choose from.
“Within a few minutes of posting the class online, it was full.” Delighted with the response, Mayotte started thinking about how and where to teach the class that would also be able to comfortably hold the now 20 or so people on the waitlist.
Mayotte has worked at the Zhawenindig house for more than five years and has been more formally teaching traditional skills like sewing, beading, and appliqué work for 10 years. On Oak Street in Odanah, the programs at the Zhawenindig (loving, kindness, unconditional love for each other) house is a part of Bad River’s wrap around family support that includes legal, child, and family advocacy.
Over the years, she has used, created, and revised countless designs trying to make the most functional, comfortable moccasins whether for dancing wild rice or at the pow wow.
Each class spans two hours. The group starts with sharing a meal, stories, and good laugh but it’s never long before students start to unroll their projects, position their lighted magnifying glasses, then get their needles going.
“I think the toughest part is always the heel,” said Mayotte. The group echoed in agreement.
“Constructing a good heel is challenging because you don’t want a heel that buckles and bunches while you’re dancing,” said Melissa Christenson.
Christensen, a Lac du Flambeau Band member drives north each week for class. She is looking forward to Big Drum this year and was making her moccasins with a custom print especially for the occasion. “I’m hoping to teach what I’ve learned here back home too, she said.
“Making the perfect puckered toe the first couple tries is also a real task, but hang in there,” added Nora White-Buffalo. Others thought attaching the tonguepiece was key to make sure it didn’t keep sliding down one side of the moccasin.
There were just four classes scheduled for this round, so there’s a lot to accomplish in a short time. Some participants worked at home between classes on their designs to get the most out of instruction time to make sure everything was being pinned neatly and correct.
As students were diligently working on their creations, Mayotte made rounds answering questions, helping with fittings, and offering technique tips.
In reflecting on this class Mayotte described what she feels is the best part of doing these gatherings, “It brings trust and healing for our women in our community as we work on learning how to make items that are needed for our culture.” For her next class, Mayotte is hoping to secure the band’s wake house so a larger group can all fit under one roof.