Nathalie Wiscutie-Crépeau

Nathalie carries a wealth of knowledge thanks to her diverse professional and personal experiences. She has worked in both administrative and cultural environments, and has taken numerous training courses along the way.  

Nathalie loves passing on her knowledge of history, earth science, snowshoe weaving, sewing and much more to the adults of tomorrow. Nathalie is very socially and culturally involved in the community of Senneterre, where she grew up and still lives.  

She participates in and runs a number of prevention workshops with young people, and is also involved in planning cultural activities in her community. Nathalie is also a close foster family.  

It was at the birth of her first daughter, Wanda, that Nathalie felt the creative call. “Why not take advantage of the baby’s sleeping time to do some beading and embroidery?” she tells us, with a smile.  

Her art is unique. Nathalie makes traditional garments, jewelry, double dream catchers and much more. All her works are meticulously crafted with refinement, adorned with moose or caribou bone, porcupine quills, leather, feathers or furs. She even uses natural dyes to color her fabrics.

As a child, Nathalie was curious to see how her mother, herself a cultural bearer, did things: she asked lots of questions and wanted to know everything about her Anicinabe and Eeyou cultural traditions.  

“I wanted to know how things were done, so I looked at my mother and asked her questions. I learned a lot that way.”  

A self-taught woman at the service of people, today Nathalie is keen to continue passing on her culture and is always keen to learn more about her culture, such as hide tanning.  

“To really understand how things were done, I would undo them so I could understand and redo them by myself afterwards.”  

Nathalie is a tradition-bearer, and we’re delighted to present her work to you.