Dog sled blanket exhibit blends artistry and tradition at Fort Smith, N.W.T., museum

A new exhibit on dog sled blankets currently on display in Fort Smith, N.W.T., blends artistry and tradition.

The exhibit, called "Tāpis: A Love Letter to Our Dog Kin," showcases nine dog blankets made by six Indigenous artists. The Northern Life Museum & Cultural Centre in Fort Smith is hosting the exhibit.

To accompany the travelling exhibit, the museum is also displaying two historical sets of dog blankets from its collection, which were made in the 1940s.

Named by the French Métis and known as 'tuppies' by the English and Scottish Métis, tāpis are blankets made to be draped over sled dogs, and are often decorated.

Adele Arseneau, a Cree and Métis artist, began working with tāpis over a decade ago. She said she was inspired by her late dog Nîcimos, whose name is a Cree word for "my sweetheart." 

Arseneau saw the blankets as a way to honour the sacred bond between Indigenous peoples and their sled dogs. She said her goal was to reconnect with her family traditions and address the loss of cultural practices caused by colonialism.

"We didn't lose this culture. It was taken from us. It was eradicated," she said. "These chains were broken, and it is such a thing of joy when people see this exhibit and hear those bells."

Arseneau said her work with Velma Olsen, a beader of Northern Tutchone, Han, and Gwich'in descent who grew up in Mayo, Yukon, was central to the project. Olsen mentored Arseneau and passed down techniques and stories from her own experiences.

Also central to the project was a 20-week online residency where Arseneau mentored four bead workers, guiding them through creating their own tāpis. She said all the artists involved are Indigenous.  

All six artists contributed tāpis for the show. Olsen created three, Arseneau created two, and the four beadworkers who took part in the online residency — Debbie Dillon, Jaimy Fischer, Vicki Fraser, and Carrie Moran McCleary — all contributed one blanket each. 

Arseneau said it was also important to work with artists from northern Canada to ensure the widespread distribution of the knowledge and skills associated with tāpis. She said she asked two other artists to choose the participants, but she had specific directions.

"I said they've all gotta be really far apart, so that way different communities will have access," she said. "I wanted to help other women my age have access to stuff that they may not have had."

By involving bead workers from different regions, she hoped to plant seeds of revitalization in communities throughout the country and create a network of artists who could continue teaching and sharing the tradition, ensuring it would thrive for future generations.

Growing up away from her ancestral lands, Arseneau found it challenging to access teachings and traditions tied to her heritage. She said this project became a personal journey of rediscovery and a way to bring together others who shared similar experiences.