Sarah Hardisty (1924–2014) was a Dene elder and quillworker.

Early life

Hardisty was born Sarah Sanguez on 17 July 1924 in the Jean Marie River (Tthek'éhdélı̨) community in the Dehcho Region of Canada's Northwest Territories. Joseph Sanguez, her grandfather, built the house where she was born and settled the community. Her family spent their summers in Jean Marie River and wintered at Fish Lake. She started sewing at the age of nine and by the time she was 12 she could prepare and tan a moosehide. She had no formal education and earned income selling handmade traditional clothing and moccasins.

Family and artwork

Sanguez married William Hardisty in 1941. They had 12 children. Hardisty worked in quillwork, beadwork, and embroidery. She specialized in porcupine quillwork and earned a reputation as one of the best sewers in the region. Her work was included in the 1977 exhibition ''Contemporary Art of Canada—the Western Subarctic'' at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

. She was commissioned by the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...

to craft a traditional outfit and gloves for their Dene clothing collection in 1988. Hardisty taught traditional craftwork at the local school through the 1990s. In 1999, Hardisty led a quillwork workshop in Fort Simpson with Jane Grossetete and Caroline Bonnetrouge. NWT Commissioner Dan Marion presented her with an award from the Dene National Assembly in July 1999. Hardisty also contributed porcupine quillwork for the shaft of the ceremonial Mace of the Northwest Territories, a symbol of the authority of the Legislative Assembly. She was a participating artist in the Open Sky Festivals of 2001 and 2002.

Later years and legacy

She was interviewed for Isuma TV circa 2008.

Nahendeh NahendehConstituency map of the NWT
is a

Kevin Menicoche presented Hardisty with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013. Hardisty died in Fort Simpson on 9 February 2014. Mocassins made by Hardisty are part of the collection of the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

. The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center holds in its collection dolls created by Hardisty dressed in traditional clothing.

References

External links

Interview with Sarah Hardisty
IsumaTV, 2009
Kevin A. Menicoche on Condolences On The Passing Of Nahendeh Resident Sarah Hardisty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardisty, Sarah 1924 births 2014 deaths 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Artists from the Northwest Territories Canadian textile artists Dene people First Nations textile artists Women textile artists First Nations women artists