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