Cradle board making workshop embraces tradition

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — A mother-to-be appreciated the opportunity to learn about cradle boards, also known as tikinagans, at the Anishinabek Nation’s Cradle Board Making Workshop, held Nov. 5-6 in Thunder Bay.

“I loved this because when I was younger, I wasn’t able to embrace my culture because I’m from Florida,” says Jade Mims, a Red Rock Indian Band citizen. “My dad’s from here so I’ve got my dad’s family here and my baby on the way, so I love all the traditional work and the fact that everyone is super nice and very welcoming.”

Mims says the two workshop presenters, Shannon and Ryan Gustafson, were “very informative and helpful.” The workshop was held at the Ka-Na-Chi-Hih Solvent Abuse Treatment Centre.

“They really let us know the background of these [tikinagans],” Mims says. “And they taught us exactly why these were used, where they came from. They helped us to really embrace this tradition.”

Shannon says it was a “great” experience to lead the workshop, noting the group of about 24 participants featured a range of younger and older women.

“There were women who brought their children and babies, so it was really nice,” Shannon says.

The Gustafsons supplied the participants with pre-cut and shaped materials for making the tikinagans so they didn’t have to do any cutting or steam bending of the different parts.

“The most challenging part is bending the wood,” Shannon says. “Ryan does a steam-bending technique for bending the brush bars.”

Lynda Banning, FASD regional program worker for Northern Superior for the Anishinabek Nation, says it was important to share information during the workshop about traditional parenting practices and the benefits of using the tikinagan.

“We had people who are sorry that they didn’t have the opportunity to have one themselves or to have their children in one,” Banning says. “So they were grateful for the opportunity now to create one and maybe use it for their grandchildren or future children — we had a couple of pre-natal moms.”

Banning says the workshop started with a circle on the first day.

“We had a chance to share anything we knew about experiences with tikinagans or cradle boards,” Banning says. “We learned that it was a form of discipline and that the children learned to use their eyes and ears first before they started to do, so they learned to watch and listen before doing.”

Mary Zoccole, an Eagle Lake citizen from Treaty #3, says the workshop brought back memories of her childhood.

“My parents used a tikinagan for us when we were babies,” Zoccole says. “To learn how to make them was really great because my dad used to make those. So just to learn all about that was really an eye-opener to see how much work goes into making one of those and to learn the background of where it came from. So I was really happy to be here and make one.”

Zoccole plans to pass the tikinagan on to a great grandson who was born in August.

“He’s two months now, so he should be perfect,” Zoccole says.

Amanda Ruth, a Red Rock Indian Band citizen, says it was “absolutely beautiful” to see the amount of knowledge that was shared during the workshop.

“And the way that the traditional knowledge is coming back for future generations is just amazing — it’s beautiful,” Ruth says. “I’m really proud and honoured to be here. Everybody was so friendly, it was such a great group because everybody has so much humour. It was just a really good energy to be here.”