Sealskin coat.
Someone wrote…
I remember being allowed to wear a sealskin coat that was crafted by an indigenous elder who I met when I was younger. The sealskin itself was very shiny and beautiful, the natural texture of it seeming to be more “feminine” and better fashioned for someone the western world would designate as female, even though the coat was never designed with gender in mind, only functional practicality. I remember some of my classmates oooohing and awwing because here I was modeling this particular coat (being one of the only Native students in my class), and being male. It seemed to them that being male and in possession of something beautiful were incompatible but, personally, I thought at the time and still do that my ancestors and my own identity would have said/are otherwise.
What’s your experience?
Category: your voice One comment »
August 12th, 2009 at 2:40 am |
I love this post so much, because a jacket that was made only with function in mind becomes something so much more.
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