Documentary film on Cowichan sweaters explores traditional garment's legacy
CBC
Award-winning writer and director Mary Galloway has partnered with A Knitted Legacy Films Inc. to document the tradition of knitting Cowichan sweaters.
The Cowichan Sweater, Our Knitted Legacy is available to stream now on CBC Gem.
"The Cowichan sweater is a knitted garment that is made of raw sheep's wool and knitted into a sweater in different patterns, depending on which knitter has made it," said Galloway.
"They've been a part of our culture and our history for over 100 years. They are really beautiful hand-knit sweaters, but a lot of people don't know what they are and where they come from, so this documentary will teach people about them."
The film explores the history of the sweaters in the Cowichan and Saanich territories on Vancouver Island and the traditional knitters from these communities.
Several of the all-Indigenous crew had ancestral ties to the communities, but Galloway had a special journey she was also taking during the filming.
Her late grandfather, Chief Dennis Alphonse, often wore a Cowichan sweater.
"This is a really personal story too, because I have a lot of photographs of my late grandfather," she said. "He was on chief and council for over 40 years in our nation, and a lot of the photos I have he's wearing this Cowichan sweater."
The 33-year-old Indigenous filmmaker and the crew spent 15 days interviewing members from the communities — some of which are still spinning wool and knitting these garments today.
"We've always been weavers in the Salish territory, and it evolved into knitting," said Galloway.
"This documentary will teach people about (the weavers) and about this history of the sweaters. They each are very unique and no two sweaters are alike, and that's the beauty of them. They're genuinely works of art.
"They're such a master craft that these knitters have been able to perfect over the years and pass on from generation to generation. They keep you warm and they will last for 100 years if you take care of them."
The crew was able to interview 20 community expert knitters.
Producer Tiffany Joseph, who is also from the area, explained how the crew were welcomed into each of the community member's homes.
Calgary police have charged a man with defrauding numerous seniors out of about $186,000 in a string of incidents over a five-week period.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.
Daniel Jolivet, 68, had his first taste of freedom this weekend after spending the last 33 years behind bars.