b'TEXTILE ARTa larger audience. When they askedusing the amauti, which is really special me to put my dress in a museum, Ifor [Inuit] women, says project manager initially thought no. But after theGayle Gruben.ceremony, I thought it would share the knowledge of howThe amauti is a parka with a large healing [these dresses] are andhood used by Inuit women to carry would inspire people whoinfants, allowing for skin-to-skin have drifted away from thecontact and ease of nursing. Its circle of the pow wow or theirpart of becoming a woman, families, says Seymour-Crane.explains Gruben. Traditionally, Each and every person whothe amauti was created for the ease submitted their dress to thatof the woman to have access to the exhibit has their own story. baby when travelling. Women in the MIA sewing circle POWER OF CLOTHING wanted a way to commemorate their The REDress Project, created bymissing or murdered loved ones. With Mtis artist Jaime Black, is anotherfunding from Pauktuutit Inuit Women of initiative showcasing the symbolicCanada, they conceived the Red Amautiit power and meaning in clothing and dress.Project, which would commission amau-Developed specifically in response totiit from 13 communities across Canada, the issue of MMIWG, Blacks installa- A memory quilt created by the Montreal- including Grubens home of Tuktoyaktuk.tion art project assembled some 600 redbased Women Are Sisters project dresses through community donation to beEach community collectively comes up presented as an exhibit drawing attentionwith their own concept of how to put the to, in Blacks words the staggering numberamauti together and embellish it. If theyre of women who are no longer with us.not comfortable putting it together them-Since 2010, the collection has beenselves, I take it back to Winnipeg and put it presented at numerous gallery spacestogether for them to their specifications. The across the country, including the Canadianoutcome is likely going to be 15 garments. Museum of Human Rights. The dresses,Were most likely going to use the one we with their vibrant colour, symbolize bothused for the initial proposal, and theres also vitality and violence, and because they area rainbow-coloured one thats being created empty, they also evoke the missing womenfor the two-spirited people, says Gruben.who should be wearing them. Once the COVID-19 crisis is resolved, an The project went on to inspire Inuitexhibit will be mounted in Winnipeg and families impacted by WWMIG. After thethe garments will later be repatriated to their Winnipeg-based Manitoba Inuit Associationhome communities. I was honoured to be (MIA) started a sewing group where familythe overseer of the sewing circle, Gruben members could talk about their experi- says, and its led to this lovely project for ences, they determined to launch theirpeople who are trying to find ways to be own dress-based initiative. We decided weaccepting about what happened to them-should think about having some formal Two women sew a traditional amauti as part of selves and their families and to understand project following the REDress Project andan Inuit initiative to honour MMIWG that the sewing just helps you grieve.24/7help, support and resources for Indigenous women, by Indigenous women.Callusat:1-855-554-HEAL(4325)Itsjustthatsimple-receivefreeandVisitTalk4Healing.comandstartyour and live support will be there to listen,confidential support anywhere you arepersonal journey towards healing. anytimeoftheday.Availablein14across Ontario.Indigenous languages, English & French.34Spring/Summer 2020'