Celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. Celebrate all women around the globe and know that they will celebrate you and continue to do their best to right wrongs, uphold justice, save the planet, and speak the truth.
via Daily Prompt: CarveCarve
Lined up around the edges of the studio, rough cut stone takes up the under spaces along the walls. Under the finishing desk, mounds of stone hunker down, seemingly forgotten. Under the ledge that acts as a shelf. Bone and wood haphazardly stacked on shelves along the wall. A moistened finger brings out the color of the stone… a piece of soapstone with the colors of jade. Back in the corner, a find of alabaster. I am always fascinated when she “sees” something in a clump of stone; amazed that she won’t pull a piece out until her vision is clear. How does her mind work to decide to make that first cut with the handsaw, taking off the stone she won’t use? Completely self-taught, she finds a balance, not only in literally making the stone stand on its own, but in the other materials that she brings to the carved stone, each piece a brilliant carving in its own right; each piece a part of herself, the story she is telling about her people, past and present, and the environment in which she thrives.
Unangan weaving has the reputation of being some of the finest weaving being done today; for millenia, for that matter. It can take a weaver many months to complete a project. It also has the reputation of being some of the most beautiful weaving, exacting in the details of process and design. So much goes into weaving each project that it should come as no surprise at how time consuming even the first steps can be.
If you have ever been to the Aleutians during the summer, one of the first comments you are likely to make will be something about the abundant, large grass growing on the beach shores and up into the meadowlands. You are looking at tix^lux^, or wild rye grass, or in the scientific lingo, Elymus mollis. It is this beautiful grass that played such a large part in the lives of the Unangax^.
Weaving used to be a very utilitarian aspect of Unangan life. Grasses were used to weave fish baskets, berry baskets, clam containers, floor mats, wall coverings, room dividers, mittens, socks, burial mats, capes….you name it and it was probably a woven product. The beauty of the fine weaving, though, was not recognized until the Unangax^ were invaded by Russian fur procurers and items began leaving the region, either as items taken forcibly, or, in later years, as items of trade.
I am lucky that my mother has passed on the art of gathering and curing grass for basket weaving. It is no longer a common occurrence. I miss seeing women returning from the hills carrying large bundles of grass over their shoulders. Those bundles were tossed and dampened and protected from sunlight for up to 2 months, depending on conditions. Then the grass was stripped down to the inner blades of grass; the ones that were at the center of the blade, thus protected from the salty elements. One large bundle is reduced to a bundle measuring, perhaps, an inch in diameter.
Just so you know, both my daughters have been on the August grass gathering forays.
Unalaska From My Point of View 
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