Gertrude Palliser

Gertrude Palliser is a craftsperson from Northwest River and Rigolet, Labrador. She grew up watching her mother sew, and her late Aunt Elsa and other close relatives doing grasswork, and became interested in local training classes for sewing and embroidery when she was a teenager.   

She works with a variety of materials such as moose-hide, sealskin, locally harvested grasses, wool, leather, felt, and crochet yarns. She makes a variety of beautiful crafts from moose-hide and sealskin slippers, grasswork, crocheted and knitted cloths and clothing, to Inuit dolls adorned in beadwork. Though Rigolet has a craft store where she can get many of her materials, Gertrude likes to collect her grass from the land and dry it out herself, and occasionally travels to Goose Bay where she has access to more materials for her work.

Gertrude finds that her craftwork is one of the most relaxing practices in her day and likes to start the morning off with sewing, knitting, or crocheting while watching the morning news. She sells her work online and in the local Rigolet craft store and always has orders for Inuit dolls and her crocheting projects on the go.