Moose hide bags will outlive buyers

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY – Fort William’s Raili Saarinen cannot keep up with the demand for his Raali Alexander line of hand-sewn and beaded moose hide bags and purses.

“I do a small one, a medium one and a large one,”Saarinen says during the Lakehead University Campus Market, held March 3 by the Aboriginal Awareness Centre and Lakehead University Student Union Sustainability at the Agora. “I can’t make them as fast as they are selling. (Customers) love them –they tell me what kind of flower (they want). Some people want turtles or bears or bear claws.”

Saarinen usually asks his customers how much they want to spend and then he makes the bag or purse according to their budget.

“They get their money’s worth, for sure,”Saarinen says.

Saarinen began making the bags and purses about three years ago after a friend noticed a medicine bag he had made for himself.

“A lady said ‘why don’t you put a strap on that and make a purse for me,’”Saarinen recalls. “Now I can’t make enough. I’m back-ordered probably about eight or 10 bags. They have traditional Ojibwe beadwork and everything is natural —it’s moose hide hand-sewn with sinew.”

Saarinen’s cousin taught him how to make the bags. He usually purchases his materials from suppliers in Thunder Bay and Edmonton.

“She does all traditional stuff. I learned how to bead about six months ago.”

Saarinen says his beading has improved over the past six months.

“When I first started doing beadwork, you go fast — you want to see a finished product. “So it wasn’t as clean. As you can see, my beadwork has certainly come a long way.”

Although Saarinen usually begins by sewing the bag or purse together first, he often takes a break to work on the beadwork.

“When you sew the leather, your hands will get sore after a while,”Saarinen says. “So to give your hands a break for a day or two, you can go on to beading. It’s not as hard.”

He believes that his bags and purses will outlive the customers who buy them.

“I really try to perfect my work. This bag will last 100 years. The beadwork might not, but the bag will for sure.”

Saarinen says his earnings from the bags and purses, as well as the hats, moccasins, gloves and gauntlets he also makes, helps to supplement his income.

“If money’s tight or you have an extra bill or you want to treat yourself a little bit, I just have to get to work. It’s my goal one day to make a bag that someone will buy from me for $1,000.”