Remembering My Ancestors
Tomorrow is Halloween, and November 1-2 is the Day of the Dead. In many traditions, this time of year is when we remember our ancestors. It’s specially marked as a time when the veil between our world and the spirit world is thin. Although my family has never formally celebrated this time in a religious sense, for a few years now after the Halloween festivities are over (watching scary movies, dressing up in costumes and trick or treating, carving pumpkins, and eating way too much candy) we’ve taken an evening to get out pictures of our ancestors, friends, and pets who have passed on, and share memories about them as a family. This year I decided that I want some of those pictures to be out all the time, so I printed and framed some of my favorite ones, and created an ancestor gallery wall. Check out the video below!
Like most fiber artists, I love history. I love learning about how people used to live their lives, especially the everyday details. What kind of homes did they live in? What did they eat? How did they get by? I love to pore over the photos, letters, knowledge or artifacts they left behind. Not just of my own ancestors, but also the ancestors of humanity in general. And one of the most exciting questions for me as a fiber artist, is “what kind of textile arts were they doing? What interesting materials were they using, and where did they get them? How did they pass on their skills? I love to try out old skills and crafts, and I’m sure many other fiber artists can relate. Why do we do this? Why is it so inspiring? It’s inspiring because it’s (nearly) everything.
Our Ancestors were Creative
Our ancestors gave us nearly everything. Ancestors invented weaving patterns that were the predecessors to computer programming. Ancestors invented spinning, which led humans to create clothes and blankets, refining textile technology to meet different needs, eventually leading to the many specialized fabrics and techniques used to make such technologically advanced things as space suits. Ancestors invented cooking and baking. Reading and writing. Music. Everything except nature itself, although they certainly altered it, for better or worse. Our direct ancestors even gave us our very bodies, passing DNA down through the centuries, pregnancy after pregnancy, birth after birth. Learning about the past and what our ancestors did inspires us to create, invent, repair, and pay it forward to future generations.
Ancestors are Inspiring
Whether we’re part of a religion that worships ancestors, or one that does not, or not religious at all, none of us can deny that our ancestors deserve to be honored for all that they accomplished, and all that they have given us. Of course, none of us has perfect ancestors who all led saintly lives. We all have despicable people in our past, as well as honorable ones. But all of them, through the ages, paved a winding path to where we are today. All I mean is, we would not be here without them, and learning about them can inspire us to create a more beautiful world.
Ancestors and Fiber Art
The great thing about being a fiber artist is that it links us to our past and our future in such a tactile and visually evocative way. We use tools as ancient as the drop spindle, wool from sheep breeds created through generations of herd management. And yet spinning is still a useful, contemporary craft that begs to be passed down to the next generation. We might not spin for the same reasons as our ancestors. But we do spin for reasons (I spin for the pleasure of feeling soft, luxurious fibers become yarn between my fingers. It’s absolutely a reason.) And we continue to pass this craft down through the ages, with each person putting their own spin on it, and then teaching it to someone else.
I am fortunate enough to have a few fiber art items that belonged to my great grandmother, Aleatha. I never met her, but my parents chose to name me after her. She wasn’t a handspinner, rather a talented artist who painted china and sewed clothes and quilts. She also made tatted lace. She was a poor farmer’s wife trying to keep her home functioning, her garden productive, and her family fed during the Great Depression, but she also loved to make beautiful things and left many of them behind when she passed away. I have one quilt she began and her daughter (my grandma) finished.
A Heritage of Creating Beauty
Aleatha made her world a more beautiful place. She taught her daughter some of her skills, and she used them to make this pink dress with hand stitched pleats. The tatting was done by Aleatha, and the rest of the dress by her daughter, my grandma, who, along with my own mother, inspired and taught me to sew.
I’ve been inspired by these people and the objects they created for as long as I can remember. I taught my children some of my skills. They’ve taken up some crafts and passed on others, but I have reason to hope that they too will make the world more beautiful in some way. They will in some small way inspire and build up the next generation, because that’s what humans do.
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