At the first community cedar weaving workshop at Sechelt’s Red Cedar Woman studio held since last summer, fibre artist Jessica Silvey and her daughters Ali and Bella Casey, offered instruction on the creation of miniature woven hearts using strips of red cedar. “There are about six weeks in the spring that we can harvest, and all our cedar is from Sechelt and Egmont, where Mom grew up,” explained Ali on Feb. 1. Only one strip is taken from each tree, allowing it to regenerate. Under a portrait and framed letter of former shíshálh Nation band manager Clarence Joe (written in the early 1960s to assert Indigenous sovereignty over British Columbia), bundles of red and yellow cedar are readied for weaving projects. Hats, baskets, and tiny octopuses adorn the walls. Minuscule knit and crocheted orange sweaters — part of national project of commemoration for Residential School survivors — are clipped to bright-coloured threads. The next workshop (focused on basket weaving) is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 22.
