The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy - Documentary Film by Mary Galloway - 5 Min Trailer — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:05couch and sweaters have been around for
3. 0:08over a hundred years and they've made
4. 0:11their way around the globe and they've
5. 0:14become a Monumental part of this side of
6. 0:17the world
7. 0:18the elders and the Knitters who make
8. 0:21them are some of the most precious
9. 0:24strong resilient creative funny and
10. 0:30heartwarming people
11. 0:32in the entire world
12. 0:37couch and sweaters to me are a perfect
13. 0:41illustration of the Innovation and
14. 0:45adaptability of our elders and our
15. 0:47ancestors
16. 0:50it's the ability to have the freedom to
17. 0:53express your own self within your
18. 0:55artwork
19. 0:59tradition is going that'd be amazing
20. 1:03knitting is a part of of life
21. 1:09[Music]
22. 1:10my grandpa was Chief and Council for
23. 1:14over 40 years and he has done some
24. 1:17incredible things for our community
25. 1:21a lot of the photos that I have of him
26. 1:24are in this sweater
27. 1:26[Music]
28. 1:27I never really got the chance to know
29. 1:30him
30. 1:30[Music]
31. 1:32so hopefully while I go on this journey
32. 1:35to get a sweater recreated in his honor
33. 1:38for me it will bring me closer to him he
34. 1:41was such an amazing chief
35. 1:44he really honored and loved and took
36. 1:47care of our community
37. 1:49your grandpa and international party was
38. 1:52the greatest Chief ever
39. 1:59couch and sweaters are iconic
40. 2:02our path forward in so many different
41. 2:05ways
42. 2:06a look back
43. 2:09and to look forward
44. 2:11our Salish Knitters
45. 2:15knit us together with our elders with
46. 2:18our ancestors
47. 2:20we were Weavers historically we wove
48. 2:23just the most beautiful blankets
49. 2:26baskets hats
50. 2:29the women were very involved from every
51. 2:32stage it was an economy
52. 2:36and praying desperately to hold on to
53. 2:39the knitting I think we're losing it
54. 2:41fast forward to today you know Knitters
55. 2:44are having to pay retail for wool having
56. 2:46to rely on limits and quotas on how much
57. 2:49they're allowed to purchase and it's
58. 2:51really stifling the economy I remember
59. 2:54it was four dollars a pound today it's
60. 2:58twenty dollars a pound
61. 3:00through all of that where cultural
62. 3:03appropriation of couch and sweaters
63. 3:05Salish knitting is contributing to the
64. 3:09Erasure and committing to the further
65. 3:12genocide of indigenous people Salish
66. 3:15people specifically here on the West
67. 3:16Coast
68. 3:19couch and sweaters are
69. 3:21love
70. 3:24our history couch and sweaters our
71. 3:28future couch and sweaters our warmth
72. 3:32this is a sweater that I will be able to
73. 3:34pass on and something that will remind
74. 3:37me of home and the family and of our
75. 3:41culture and tradition
76. 3:48I think that moving forward is really
77. 3:50important to not lose what our ancestors
78. 3:54and what our grandmothers and great
79. 3:56grandmothers did for us to like keep it
80. 3:59alive
81. 4:00these are
82. 4:02women who could do it all at the same
83. 4:06time and never miss a stitch
84. 4:13I'm very proud and honored to have our
85. 4:17fourth generation of Knitter here to
86. 4:20continue to carry on our tradition
87. 4:23couch and sweaters truly
88. 4:28have you been since we last spoke
89. 4:32I've got some good news
90. 4:35[Music]
91. 4:38it's ready I can go see it
92. 4:44[Music]
93. 4:52how to sweater is what kept us alive
94. 4:54[Music]
95. 4:56thank you