Chukchi Campus hosts skin sewing workshops
The Chukchi Campus taught two skin sewing workshops taught by local experts this fall.
The Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue held two skin sewing workshops taught by local experts this fall. Students gathered to learn how to make rabbit mittens and fox fur hats, a practice in Iñupiaq skin-sewing.
The Iñupiat have practiced skin-sewing for generations, making beautiful, warm, and functional pieces from animal skins hunted using subsistence practices. The generational transfer of this knowledge was interrupted by colonization, yet the Iñupiat preserved their knowledge, culture, and way of life. The skin-sewing workshops hosted by the Chukchi Campus focus on revitalizing traditions and passing knowledge to new generations.
Past workshops held in Kiana, Kivalina, Noatak, and Kotzebue shared knowledge on making fancy qupaks, soft bottom and baby mukluks, subsistence nets, and niksiks (ice fishing jiggers). The Cargill Foundation “To Be Remembered Project” provides funding for the Chukchi Campus to hire local Iñupiaq experts to share their traditional language, culture, arts and crafts knowledge. The grant also covers all university fees and the cost of materials for students.
The Chukchi Campus is a responsive and collaborative rural college that inspires and develops students to contribute to their community’s cultural and civic needs. Located in the hub village of Kotzebue in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Chukchi Campus primarily serves Kotzebue as well as the 11 village communities and the Red Dog Mine site.