Sylvain Rivard's Wendat-style headdress "Bingo Chief" was made for Guy Sioui Durand for a performance. (Jessica Deer/CBC)

Exhibition of First Nations headdresses explores issues of diversity and cultural appropriation

Tahatie Montour has been making traditional Haudenosaunee headdresses for over a decade and says his skills could transfer to another profession.

“A lot of the ways I look at it, I could be a florist,” said Montour, who is Mohawk from Kahnawake, Que.

“The way the feathers stand up, it’s always a challenge to make a kastowa unique.”

Kastowas are fitted hats adorned with eagle, hawk, turkey or pheasant feathers and worn by men. The position of the feathers identifies which nation within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to which the man belongs. Mohawk katsowas, for example, have three feathers standing straight up on top.

His most recent work is not only unique when it comes to feather arrangement, it also incorporates one of his son’s favourite superheroes, Ironman… more

Categories: Indigenous
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.