Place

Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories

Date

2012

DIMENSIONS in centimetres

28 x 28

Materials & techniques

Beads, synthetic; Velvet, sewn, embroidery, beadwork

Credit

Margaret Nazon

ID

Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre 2012.015.001

Margaret Nazon is an expert seamstress who combines contemporary clothing design with traditional embroidery, beadwork, and textile arts. Born to Gwich’in parents who lived off the land in the Tsiigehtchic area of the Northwest Territories, Nazon learned traditional skills including fishing, hunting, tanning and sewing, beading and embroidery. Today the Gwich’in live primarily in the communities of Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson, Aklavik, and Inuvik, and have family ties in the Yukon and Alaska.
 
When the International Year of Astronomy was celebrated in 2009, Nazon was inspired by an array of images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. She used her traditional skills to create new visual interpretations through a myriad of glass beads and different beading techniques featured in this beautiful celestial creation.
 
In 2007 Nazon received the Gwich’in Achievement Award for Art, Culture and Heritage for her dedication to her art and her people. She has served as Vice-President of the Gwich’in Tribal Council, as a member of the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, as an instructor of traditional arts at Inuvik’s Aurora College, and as a sewing instructor in her hometown. She is a member of the Northwest Territories Arts Council and brings a wealth of experience working with artists in the Beaufort-Delta region.