To extend community understanding of modern Indigenous Peoples cultures, Comox United is hosting a film night that explores the values and nature of the Cowichan Sweater.
A century long tradition that emerged among Cowichan women as a means of supporting their families is seen as a unique blending of Indigenous harvesting and spinning mountain goat wool and using settlers traditional knitting techniques to construct the iconic Cowichan sweater.
The unique characteristics of these sweaters include water resistance, great warmth, and extreme durability, often lasting through several generations of constant use. These traditional values are rooted in the natural traits of the mountain goat wool and the great skill of the Cowichan women knitters.
The Cowichan Sweater was ubiquitous on the West Coast for many years. It became so popular that settlers began knitting them on their own and eventually commercial businesses began manufacturing 鈥渒nock-offs鈥� which threatened the Indigenous knitters markets. While authentic Cowichan sweaters can still be purchased from knitters in the Duncan area for about $200 to $300, many settlers have opted for the much cheaper commercial versions made using sheep wools spun in mills and bearing patterns and images taken from the Cowichan knitters.
As the National Film Board describes it, 鈥淭he Story of the Coast Salish Knitters鈥� tells the tale of unsung heroines 鈥� resourceful women who knit to put food on the table and keep their families alive.鈥�
Written and directed by M茅tis filmmaker Christine Welsh, this is a story of courage and cultural transformation 鈥� a celebration of the threads that connect the past to the future.
The film will be screened at Comox United Church beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24.
The hour long film will be followed with an hour of small group discussions responding the prepared questions exploring the meaning of these sweaters for inter-cultural understanding and what authentic Cowichan sweaters can contribute to our understanding in terms of reconciliation.
