Sharing the Iñupiat art of making Mukluks | INDIE ALASKA
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- Опубликовано: 23 дек 2024
- Mukluks are traditional boots worn by indigenous Arctic people around the world. Their successful design allows airflow, which prevents sweat from causing frostbite in extremely cold conditions. Mukluks (sometimes called moccasins) are very versatile though and can be worn to sneak up on seals while hunting, for traditional dances, and for formal occasions like weddings. The process of sewing mukluks has become less common in recent years, but Mary Lou Sours is working to change that and reconnect people to this cultural tradition. #indigenous #alaskanative #nativeart
Editor's Note: Mary Lou Sours passed away in December 2022.
Video and story by Valerie Kern
Winter footage by Joey Mendolia
Music from FirstCom Music
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I’m Iñupiaq but I didn’t grow up with my culture, so, it’s nice to have these videos to learn more about myself and where my ancestors came from. I feel whole watching these videos. Thank you ❤️.
This is such a beautiful comment! Thank you so much for sharing that message with us. That's our hope for this series and it feels good hearing that it helped you.
Back when the missionaries came to inflict their bullshit on indigenous cultures world wide, the beginning of the end
I'm Algerian and I'm in love with Alaskan culture 😍 Gosh, I wish I'd have the chance to live there. Can't really explain my feelings 😭
Love and greetings from Algeria 🤗❤️🇩🇿
Thank you for sharing the love all the way from Algeria!
Love, love, love, to you!!!! Thank you 😌
Blessings to all!!!
Women's hands have held the world together with our sewing and handmade works of love.
I am a man and I know how valuable this skill is.
The USA was never a country that I was interested in visiting but after watching a few videos on this channel, I decided to put Alaska in my list of places to visit in the future.
We love this comment! So glad we've inspired you and we hope you can make it to Alaska someday soon."
:)
Hi there my family lived in Greyline and sometime in Anvik off the Yukon River and watching your video made me feel at home because now I live in Florida
How beautiful! I've never seen mukluks in the process of being made before.
So cool
Awesome My uncle taught me how to make arrowheads, arrows and bows. I am happy to see that you are keeping up with tradition
We love hearing stories like yours about cultural revitalization. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you. Im down on the lower states. Been leather working and beadwork for 40+ years. Am now in love with an aluetian man. Am going to try and make some mukuks . So glad you are teaching. Gotta keep crafting alive. Praise and respect.
Was watching an episode of Life below zero and Lady mentioned making mukluks so I had to see what it was. Thanks for a very informative video and you make beautiful clothing.
Was it the original LBZ, or one of the spinoffs?
What a beautiful way to preserve ancestry, Mary! Thank you.
I love seeing people bringing back the traditional ways.
We do too! It's a beautiful switch from how Indigenous ways were viewed for so long.
I don't have any eskimo/inuit relations but do hope to try and learn how to make the clothing and learn the methods and culture, in case I end up in such cold environments, I also can teach any children I have these skills, I think cultures in their regions tend to know whats best in working and adapting to such regions
This makes me cry tears of joy! I SO thankful that you are keeping your cultural traditions alive and that you are sharing your knowledge!
You are a true artist at heart! All the artists I know do that. I’m still learning myself but I definitely encourage others who wish they could paint, but don’t think they can, by sharing my story of going from not being able to even draw good stick figures to being able to paint. If I can do it, anyone can, assuming they have the passion and perseverance to learn.
In my ignorance, I bought a couple of pairs of fake mukluks last month, not realizing they were fake. Now that I know how they’re really made, I’d love to have a real pair. I think they would not only help to keep my feet warm, I think they would help me feel/be more grounded since only the natural materials would be between my skin and the earth. I love to support artists and artisans by buying their handmade products that are made using natural fibers and natural materials. I imagine your grandmother is very proud of you for what you’re doing. ♥️
So inspiring wopila🙏
Huuuuyyyyyyyyyyyy huuuufffffffffffff que bien 👌👍 saber de curtidos de cuero
Great working with the skins
I thank God for bumping into this thingy. These Mukluks sound cool, thank you! Is it possible to wear these in water, both fresh n salt? If one needs to wear them in -40f, is that they buy a bigger pair , so that its possible to slip the feet first into a thin wool sock and then into a warm thick wool sock and then slip the feet into the Mukluuks, right? Hopefully this will cover -40f and help folk that have normally colder feet?
God bless.
We need too go back to simple life like this thats beautiful ( from quebec,canada)
You do gorgeous work.
beautiful video, never let the knowledge disspaear!
Amazing !
How do you order a pair! These are absolutely beautiful
Greetings. Thanks for the educational videos. I really appreciate this work of Art & Craftsmanship.You just remind of My Mother. She retired this year in October from being "Professional Seamistress Teacher" for over 40 years. Art & Craft is SOUL Intuitive Tasks, only ONE can describe what's the nature of this tasks. So my mother live in the opposite side of the globe from You. On a tropical Island east of Madagascar. Lovings & BLESSINGS. Wish YOU All happy Holidays 💖 & BLESS New Year 2021.
Could that keep you more warm then like a Columbia coat? Cause I mean that is how it used to be done for hundreds or thousands of years and how coat manufactures don’t even use leather at all anymore
Quyana! Thanks to modern technology I have the opportunity to learn about my culture and heritage. Over the years I’ve grown a vast appreciation in keeping the unwritten traditions alive. My mother and grandmother passed some time ago in Anchorage, so their experiences and stories went with them. I’m a descendant of the Oscar family from Bethel but know absolutely nothing about them sadly. I just hope that we can use todays tools to record everything we can before the opportunity slips us. ❤
Thank you for sharing your story and for watching this video. Comments like yours keep us inspired to continue making content.
I used to live up north when I was young, and I learned how to make them, after I moved I forgot what they were even called. Tbh I miss the learning opportunities I had, and I'm gonna move back someday. Yours are beautiful :0
I'm Canadian btw
Thank you for sharing your experience!
The boot is called a kamik
Wow, they are very beautiful., Never be ashamed of your culture and traditions, almost like how we Navajo's make our moccasins. But they are nice.
Hello I saw one of your workers in my library class
Stellar. Great story:)
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Theres a game i play called the long dark. and the most withstanding light and warm boots you can find are mukluks, Nice to see its true. bless your people
They need to form a company and produce authentic mukluks to sale via a website. This is awesome
Check out her facebook page here: facebook.com/CusomMaryDesigns/
DO you make Children's Muk Luks custom order?
Thank you
So beautiful. ❤
Many times we admire the sculptures of miguel angel or the symphonies of mozat, but this is living and actual art, thank you for showing it to us.
Beautifully said. Thank you for sharing your words and for watching this video. We hope you subscribed so you will be notified when new episodes post!
I could use a good warm pair, especially for my injured foot. I'll send an order in a few. I'm Southeastern Native, so good cold weather footwear that can accommodate the brace I wear, and is Native made, is hard to find in my own culture.
Is this in Utqiagvik?
Not quite so far north! This is in Noatak, about 60 miles above the Arctic Circle. Close to Kotzebue.
my kind of woman, so gorgeous'😍
I'm all for keeping your history alive, no matter who you are.
what book was she reading? looking at her grandmother's mukluks
I am in the Midwest. So don't need anything that warm. I am using rabbit fur and zuni boot pattern. Using what I got.
I really wanna make my own. I grew up semi traditional. Like she said, traditions got lost and sadly most of what I know is what family chose to do. I want to get back to my roots
Where can I get som custom order info?
Check out her facebook page here: facebook.com/CusomMaryDesigns/
Is it possible to order a pair?
This s neat.
miss u sm mom😣
When Uggs became too popular and everyone started wearing them, I started buying Manitobah Mukluks, which I believe is a Canadian brand that is native owned. Their boots are so cute…but like everything else, seems they are made in China.
When Hudson Stuck started working with Alaska Natives, he wanted them to learn English (speaking and reading) and about Western education and culture so that they could be prepared when Western culture inevitably forced itself on them, but also so that they could take advantage of the resources that Westerners brought, such as modern medicine (a necessity with Old World diseases ravaging Native populations, but also a tremendous advantage for illnesses and injuries of all types). But he was adamant to the point of aggression that Natives be allowed to retain and practice their indigenous survival lifestyles. White people generally hated Stuck because he would often run off saloon owners who wanted to bring in booze, gambling and prostitution, and he fought tooth and nail to make sure the salmon could still access the interior instead of being commercially fished to extinction at the mouths of the rivers. He vehemently opposed all attempts to forcibly assimilate Natives, actively encouraging them to continue practicing their languages. He saved lives, souls and even cultures. When he put together his expedition to the top of Denali, at least half of the resources he used on the trip were from Alaska Natives--including the team's boots. They discovered that no Western footwear of the time was up to the challenge of Denali. Only mukluks would do. Stuck sang their praises almost as much he did the amber snow goggles that saved everyone's eyes (those _were_ Western).
So every time you make a pair of mukluks, just remember that humanity might have given up on standing atop North America's highest peak if it weren't for these traditional Alaska Native snowboots.
RIP Mary 😢
She is so very missed. Thank you for your kind words.
RIP Mary Lou Sours
The Japanese also use the word “muk “ for skin.
Fun fact!
Do you eat the seal meat?
RIP
Mucho frioo
Can this channel fix the title of this video? Mukluk isn't a boot, it's a bearded seal
if it was anything like how canada did their natives, killed thousands of their children and buried them under the schools it's no wonder people stopped learning their culture
hope they respecting yu'r traditional culture out there ... it looks worst in the rest of the u.s.
Alaska should seek independence already, Americans and Alaskans are nothing alike.