“A different approach” to study of weaving: Review
Delighted that the journal Ethnologies is getting caught up with book reviews this month (Ethnologies 36 (1-2)), because three CBUP books are included: Bearing the People Away and French Taste in Atlantic Canada and Celtic Threads.
Of Celtic Threads: A Journey in Cape Breton Crafts, by Eveline MacLeod and Daniel W. MacInnes (CBUP 2014), the reviewer writes:
“Celtic Threads is unique in the small body of literature that examines the history of weaving in the Gaelic Cape Breton tradition. Most of the seminal books on weaving in Cape Breton … examine patterns, equipment, and materials used in weaving. Eveline MacLeod and Daniel MacInnes, however, take a different approach. Celtic Threads focuses on the weavers who introduced the traditions that still survive in Cape Breton in an attempt to recognize the craftspeople too often ignored in the study of material culture. This is not surprising, given that MacLeod was herself a weaver who practiced and studied the tradition for more than sixty years.
“In Celtic Threads, weaving is linked to the very survival of the Gaels in Cape Breton. Rather than being a hobby, weaving was a subsistence practice which enabled them to create winter clothing and keep warm in the harsh climate. MacLeod and MacInnes note that while weaving might have provided an opportunity for individual expression, its foremost goal was to ensure the survival of the early settlers.
“[T]he book will serve as the foundation for future work on the weavers of Cape Breton and their traditions. Future generations will use Celtic Threads: A Journey in Cape Breton Crafts as a springboard for continued research on gender roles, heritage crafts, and settler life.”