Christmas

Walter finishes our Christmas tree by adding our angel.

And Ecola surprises us with a sneaky early return from Alaska where she was supposed to be for Christmas with her boyfriend.

The family is all together, my parents are doing really well, and they were cool about Jordan and Jeremiah (which I think was a worry for all of us). I’m so happy we will all be together for Christmas!

Nilo, this has been challenging making me post something everyday (or at least trying to get something even if it’s early the next day) but it’s been fun! And it’s crazy to see what and how each of us blog things that are totally different. Good job at getting all of us to show are creativity 🙂 love you and merry Christmas!

Weaving my worlds together.

Here is another ball being covered by weaving. Growing up my mom has made sure us kids know where we come from and our heritage. Living in Oregon in the winter and Alaska in the summer has made things a little confusing but with time and knowledge I have learned that there is no right way of being Native. I didn’t need to be raised on a reservation or taught my native language to feel a tie to my family. Learning to weave has been an amazing way for to me keep learning more. This ball is being made for my mom. It is made out of cedar, sweetgrass, and smoke salmon skins. The cedar and grass come from Oregon and the fish skin is from Alaska. I love this contemporary look 🙂

The things they teach you… And what they leave out.

I made this mask when I was in the fourth grade. At the time we were learning about the Oregon trail and the interactions Lewis and Clark had on their journey West with Native Americans. But looking back what do they actually teach us? Why is our history so Eurocentric and why does it take until a elective college course for me to hear about what actually happened? I understand in fourth grade you don’t want to teach your children about the assimilation process and all the other terrible things but seriously this needs to be added to our high school curriculum. I was and am proud of my paper Native mask, but am also proud of professors like Dobkins who make sure this information is reaching students even if it takes until they’re in college.
Those are just some of my thoughts…

Walter’s creation

My brother Walter and I have a complicated relationship. Sometimes it’s good and and then a flip can switch and he can be the biggest dick. Ok so that’s not uncommon for siblings but he is the only one I have a hard time getting close to. The picture is from earlier today (well I guess yesterday) when I helped him shop for Xmas presents. He took me out to dinner and we ended up having a really good time. He is breaking his addictions and changing his life, which makes me really happy and really hopeful for our relationship in the future.

The burger in the picture was his, but I gave him a hard time for how he put his ketchup and mustard on. So I took a pic.

Finishing family Christmas presents.

Whoop whoop! Thank goodness I started these Christmas presents in October because I’m finally finishing the presents for my family… Will still need to make a few more things, but I have a couple days to bust something special out for others I care about 😉

Little bit of festive, and a little appreciation

At 2 AM in the morning I finished my second snowflake (the blue one) and hung them in my living room window with some twinkling lights 🙂 What is so cool is someone from my weaving class taught me earlier that day how to make them. I’ve been so blessed to be welcomed into this Native community and very lucky to have met and be taught by these people. Yay for being crafty!

Creation of the day

My mom was raised in a Russian Orthodox Church in a very little community in Alaska. Her faith has continued through her life ( not that I know if it ever wavered) and she raised her kids that way too. On every trip we took traveling my mom would always find a unique cross to bring home. I love the eclectic bunch and wanted to make her something special to add to the group.

Work in progress.

While working on Christmas presents I’ve been thinking about how far my skills have come. I’ve only been weaving for a few years but this last year I’ve been weaving a lot more; learning how the materials work and how to try as many different things as I can. I’ve found something that makes me connect to my roots (hehe…). It’s crazy how weaving makes me get into a trance and I can do it for hours without realizing how much time has gone by. I just hope my family likes my woven presents.

Someone’s special birthday…

This is a shout out to my best friend. Although its 11pm here in Oregon it’s 12 in Arizona; meaning Nilo’s birthday! Nilo… Where would I be without you? You are so important to me and have been an amazing friend the last few years! It feels like we’ve been friends since we were kids. I can’t wait till you visit or I visit you! Miss having you live closer, but I’ll see you soon. Love you crazy!

❤️ Cece Montgomery Lewis ☺️