Sheshatshiu craft shop keeping Innu culture and teacher's influence alive through tea dolls
A skill passed down has turned into a business to remember the teacher who shared it
Jeannie Nuna is opening a new craft store in Sheshatshiu — a business decision she made to both pay homage to her heritage and keep the legacy of her late mother alive.
Nuna is the daughter of Angela Andrew, who was known in her community and beyond as an ambassador for the Innu people. Andrew died in February at 72 years old, but left a lasting impression through her travels around the world, with her traditional dolls in tow.
"I was going to do it for my mom before she became ill. She had nowhere else to sell her tea dolls," Nuna told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning about the decision to open the store.
"When I first brought up the idea she loved it."
The shop opened in Sheshatshiu on Friday, after a delay due to her mother's illness and death.
"She got ill fast, so my craft shop went on the back burner. It took me a while to start building it again," Nuna said.
It was a month, in fact, before Nuna made the push to open the doors and keep her mother's memory alive, she said.
The dolls
Tea dolls are traditional Innu creations, used as a toy by children but also stuffed with tea for emergency purposes to be used in a time of famine.
They are dressed in traditional Innu clothing that women would have worn, and Andrew never made the same doll twice.
"She always made tea dolls, and when I was a kid I was just watching her," Nuna said.
"Later on when I had my own kids, I would go over and visit my mom and she would be sewing."
Andrew's tea doll creations garnered significant attention from outside of Labrador, finding their way into the hands of Queen Elizabeth, Pope John Paul, former Primer Minister Jean Chrétien and former President of the United States George W. Bush.
Apart from tea dolls, Nuna makes and sells shoulder bags, dolls that double as garbage bag dispensers, and various other dolls made from recycled materials.
"It comforts me. I still miss her so much. It's been five months," she said.
"It comforts me knowing that, without me knowing, she taught me how to do tea dolls.… Innu people are proud people."
With files from Labrador Morning