An Aboriginal Presence

An Aboriginal Presence

Flora Loutit

Flora Loutit, Métis seamstress and artist, lived in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta in the early 1900s. She made clothing in a decorative art tradition that combined Dene techniques and materials with floral designs introduced in the North by Métis traders and settlers in the 1800s.

A journalist who visited Fort Chipewyan in 1908 described the Loutit family, and Flora Loutit's work:

"Mrs. Loutit... shoots moose, and smokes the hide according to the ancient accepted mode. Coming home, she takes the smoked hide and works upon it silk embroidery of a fineness which would be the envy of any young ladies' seminary in Europe or America. She weaves fantastic belts of beads and sets the fashion for the whole north in chef d'oeuvres of the quills of the porcupine."

Jacket Métis Alberta 1905 Made by Flora Loutit Caribou skin, silk ribbon and embroidery thread Canadian Museum of Civilization, VI-Z-249, CD94-670-014