Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition)

Across her childhood and into adulthood, Tatiana receives ribbon skirts sewn by her Ojibwe grandmother, Nookomis. The garments mark family occasions: a cousin’s naming ceremony, Fall Ceremony, an auntie’s judgeship, and eventually Tatiana’s own naming ceremony. Each time Nookomis measures Tatiana and sews while she sleeps; Tatiana wakes to a skirt made for her growing body. Their recurring exchange centers on Nookomis’s wish that her granddaughter live a good life.