Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

On Saturday morning the Akwesasne Museum held a fan making class taught by Ian Clute. Ten participants dedicated their Saturday morning to the very detail-oriented and patience-demanding project of fan making. But after many hours, the finished product was worth it as there were some very beautiful fans made. More importantly, an important tradition is in the hands of 10 more people who can pass it down to future generations.

Alanna Thomas, Chad Laffin and Randi Thomas show their finished fancy fans.

Sue Ellen Herne said the Akwesasne Museum holds about 10 Traditional Arts Classes a year, which are partially funded by the NYS Council on the Arts. The types of classes that are held are based on a survey the Museum does every year. "We used to do only basket making but people asked for more," said Sue Ellen. Although the survey ensures community input, which guarantees full classes, it does pose a problem. Sue Ellen explained, "There are some things that are not very popular but need to be passed down." An example is something like porcupine quilling. Eventually traditions like this and others that aren't as popular will hopefully make it into the top ten of the survey.

Teacher Ian Clute has been making fans since he was young. The style fan he was teaching on Saturday was what he called a fancy fan. He explained it as "in between a natural fan and a peyote fan." Ian has taught fan making for a few years and has taught all over the territory. He holds two or three fan making classes a year. Participants at Saturday's class were Chad Laffin, Rotsiohiio Wells, Alanna Thomas, Randi Thomas, Cathy Mitchell, Tobi Mitchell, Jackie Benedict, Sunni Benedict, Mena Cook and Wanda Sharrow.