A little help from Grandma
Arianna Laboucan wins second place at regional Heritage Fair
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, May 5, 2014
RADILIH KOE/FORT GOOD HOPE
Arianna Laboucan says she learned a lot about her grandmother by interviewing family members and elders for her first Heritage Fair project this year.
The Grade 5 student at Chief T'Selehye School in Fort Good Hope focused on her grandmother's beadwork for her project - a topic Laboucan said had interested her for a long time.
"It was based on my grandmother, Janet Grandjambe," she said. "I just wanted to know more about her beadwork."
Grandjambe died in 2011 and the project was also a way for Laboucan to connect to her grandmother.
Laboucan said she spoke to older relatives and community members about Grandjambe's work.
"They had memories with her," she said.
Laboucan said she learned about how her grandmother started sewing at a young age, which helped her master her craft.
"That's what she loved to do," she said. "That's how she got really good."
Grandjambe had an extensive bead collection and Laboucan said she remembers visiting her grandmother and watching her sew.
"She would always sit on a red chair sewing and sewing," she said.
Grandjambe's beadwork was featured at a variety of arts festivals and shows, including the Sahtu in the Arts Show in Yellowknife.
Laboucan said she now owns some of her grandmother's pieces.
"I have some of her beadwork and her fish-scale work," she said.
Grandjambe's fish-scale artwork was also well-known. After washing and drying the scales, they are left to dry. Artists then use them to create a variety of art pieces.
Laboucan said she remembers her grandmother would leave her red sewing chair and find a more solid place to work when she was creating fish-scale art.
"When she did her fish-scale work she would sit at the table because you need glue," she said.
Laboucan's project was just one project featured at the Sahtu Regional Heritage Fair at Chief T'Selehye School on April 24, said teacher Tyler Holland. The event brought in nine students from throughout the region, plus three students from Fort Good Hope.
Holland said other projects included topics such as residential schools, both in the region and throughout Canada, as well as projects on traditional sports and traditional plants and medicines.
"The students were able to speak with their elders about how to make certain traditional medicines and things," he said. "There was a nice variety."
Holland said the fair allows students to study topics that interest them personally.
"I think they get out of the experience a chance to choose a topic that isn't necessarily selected by the teachers and educational community," he said.
Holland said the fair was open to the public and attracted a number of community members.
"We had a large response to our school heritage fair the week earlier and we still had a lot of people come out and see the projects from around the Sahtu," he said. "It worked out really well."
Holland said one of the event's goals is to encourage students to speak to relatives and elders to inform their projects.
"Anyone can Google-search anything; that's not the point of a project," he said. "It's trying to discover that level of family, that level of understanding coming through knowledge passed down through relatives."
Laboucan said she learned many things through speaking to those who knew her grandmother well. She said now that she knows more about Grandjambe's artwork, she will be able to share her story with her children one day.
"When I get older, I can teach my kids," she said.
Laboucan's project earned second place at the regional fair, which means she will now advance to the territorial fair in Yellowknife later this month.
Laboucan said that while she is a little bit nervous, she is looking forward to the experience.
"I'm kind of shy because I don't know people there," she said. "But I have a friend going with me here so I will be OK."
