eartHand’s Rebecca and Sharon made boots and shoes with community for the incredible Train of Thought journey that began in Vancouver back in May- and were lucky enough to meet Annie Smith, who would be traveling on that train… Annie was an incredible steward of the boots for the trip- finding plants and people at each stop to weave into the frame of the boots. When Annie got home to Grande Prairie not too long ago, an article appeared in her local paper about her trip- pictured with the boots!
If you are curious to know more about what happened on the train, visit Annie’s blog posts about the trip here.
Here is a photo of the finished boots that Annie took when she got home…a big thank you to Annie for the fabulous energy she brought to seeing this project through! And to all the people who helped in gathering and weaving… here is the list of who helped, and what fibres are in the boots from where… a snap shot of Canada.
Vancouver, BC – grass, willow bark, corn husk
Shuswap Lake at Sorrento, BC – pot scrubber plant (horsetails), sphagnum moss
Enderby/Splatsin, BC – cedar root gifted by Rosalind Williams
Saskatoon, SK- winter grass, acacia bark
Winnipeg, MA – winter grass
Thunder Bay, ON – vine (red) maple bark
Manitoulin Island, ON- cat tails
Rice Lake/Hiawatha First Nation ,ON – bull rushes and sweet grass gifted by Chief Greg Cowie
Curve Lake Gallery, ON – Traditional tobacco was gifted by Sarena Whetung to leave with plants where fibre was harvested to acknowledge the gift of the plant’s fibre
Manitoulin Island- cat tail reed
Toronto/Ward’s Island, ON – acacia bark, willow bark
Windsor, ON- corn husk, spruce root (from Aaron), “fuzzies”
Morning Glory Farm, Killaloe, ON – basswood twine, marsh mallow fibre, hemp fibre, indigo-dyed wool, gifted by Robbie and Emma
Montreal Mountain, PQ – sumac bark
Ship Harbour/The Deanery, NS – old man’s beard, raw wool, yellow yarn, gifted by Kim
Margaretville, NS – driftwood twig
Rock Barra, PEI – seaweed, shells, feathers, bark, lobster claw
Grande Prairie, AB – feathers
Weavers and Braiders:
Vancouver: Sharon Kallis, Rebecca Graham, Sid Bobb, Annie Smith
Train to Edmonton: Kristen Kornienko, Kelty McKerricher
Train to Winnipeg: Thaddeus Weakley, Ange Loft, Sam Egan, Priscillia Tate
Thunder Bay: Carol Knox, Alana, Victoria Freeman
Train to Sudbury: Kate Romain, Lindsay Bond
Lake Bitigamasing (Lake Ramsey): Sharada Eswar
Toronto: Carol Finlay, Kelly, Helen, Marianne Alas, Kate Romain, Mackenzie Konecny, Rich Driedger
Windsor: Taylor Ewing, Jarrard, Aaron Leon
Train to Halifax: Annie Smith, Lib Spry
Halifax: Marie Thunderchild Knockwood, Rachael Van Fossen
Middleton: Dianne McDonald
Grande Prairie: Annie Smith

Reblogged this on anismith2015 and commented:
This blog post from eartHand Gleaners Society give some final information about the Travelling Boots and an article about Train of Thought published in the Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune (Sun Media).
Thanks for this tribute. The boots are a testimony to the hearts and hands of so many people and of the richness of the land we live in. I have had them on a table in my living room and they have such a lovely presence and bring me memories of all the people I met on the Train of Thought. Now it is time for them to journey on again.