Antonina Koerkova sews and describes bead ornaments

In this film, one initially sees (5:35-13:02) how Antonina Koerkova acquires her knowledge from her grandmother, which is supplemented by sewing together with Maja Lomovtseva.

13:02-26:08

This is the frontside, from the backside you must absolutely accurately embroider so that it looks more beautiful. Later, a small pendant will be sewed on there. This here is made at the middle: beads of any color are stringed on a thread, then around this you make these circles. And then you begin to embroider, in such a position. The hand has to be hold it this way in order to support the thread with beads. This reindeer tendon, they are the strongest, the best threads in the world, may I say not in the world, but among us. For many years, not the wind, nor the snow will break these threads, if they aren’t worn out.

(Two years later): I myself started to sew in 1997. This was my first work. Every people living in Kamchatka has its own patterns, which you see on this coat. Each people differs in the style of their clothing. This is our most important ornament, of the Evens, it is sewn on from parts for the ornament: Here are these rhombuses, these lines, these sticks, all this is sewn separately. And this is chosen by every seamstress for its color according to her liking, which rhombus to set into this ornament. Every woman keeps with her on her coat little bells. That means that these little bells should chase away spirits, bad spirits from your mind, from your heart, from your brain. When they migrated in the tundra, they announced themselves this way to those who lived in the camp. Or they visited somebody from another kinship group. On the back, there is a collar, this is an Even, pure Even ornament, it is sewed on the main coat. Further, you see these pieces sewn on at the lower part the back side of the coat that are not for nothing. They swing from the one side to the other, as if they are accompanying you. They are sewed from various materials, natural fur, hare. On the "hind paws" are cut off pieces of fur, which dyed with alder.

These beads are blue, black and white, red – these are the four main colors. I think that each color of the bead is not randomly chosen. This red color means the color of the sun, white color means daytime, black – the color of the night, and blue means the color of the sky. On our Even coats green colors also predominate. I think, it is the color of summer, the color of the leaves, the color of the grass. This ornament as it is borrowed from other peoples, in this case from Nenets. This is reindeer antler, or in general, reindeer. We Evens also have such an ornament ."

Recorded by Erich Kasten, Esso, 2000 und 2002.