Two House Designs – Traditional Designs for a Contemporary World

By Kaniehtonkie.

In last week's paper, Indian Time included a story on Iakwa'shatste' Ties to the Land Project. Iakwa'shatste' worked closely with Ian Clute – Two House Designs to make snowshoes. Indian Time had the opportunity to talk to Clute and take a close look at his work and the process behind his creations.

The name Two House Designs mirrors Clute's Kaniekeha – Mohawk name Tehanonhsake, meaning "he has two houses." For much of Clute's work, he's self-taught. For making the snowshoes, he researched how they were woven and laced online, viewing several videos for instructions. From start to finish, it's much more complicated going through several processes than shown in the photos.

Clute said, "I've been around crafting my whole life and understand the principle of how to steam and bend wood. When we decided to take on a project for our first snowshoe class, we did a lot of trial and error and created our own frames."

Two House Designs prefer to use locally sourced materials for their projects, for the snowshoes, they used locally sourced ash trees to make the snowshoe frames. Clute said other hard woods could be used, if ash isn't available.

Clute said, "We have our own sawmill and can process trees down to the size that we need to make the wood frames."

The lacings for Iakwa'shatste Ties to the Land snowshoe project used nylon for the weave, then varnished it to make it waterproof. Two House Designs have made snowshoes using raw hide lacing and paracord for commissioned orders, making the snowshoes more treasured in design and increasing the craftsmanship value.

For the Iakwa'shatste Ties to the Land snowshoe project class it took about fifteen hours to complete, spreading the classes over five days.

Clute stated, "Each snowshoe class I've facilitated is different and really depends on the students who are in the class. Some pick up the weave easily and are done sooner. Others need more time.

He often shares traditional and cultural knowledge of each project he works on, whether it be in a class setting or for a commissioned project.

Clute said, "Snowshoes are pretty commonly used by First Nations people in the north. Each region has their own style that has been adapted to their needs. Sometimes they need to be able to maneuver through the forests for hunting and so they have snowshoes that are designed to be more agile."

Clute and his wife of twenty-one years, Kawennahente, share four children and is a dedicated uncle figure to many in Akwesasne. For many of his projects, he has family members working with him, including his brother Lelan, his nephews Ronatines and Rawisaketskwas, his cousin Tania, and her husband Kyle Jacobs, along with his sister Susan Benedict and Morgan White.

Clute said, "I have a lot of help depending on the project and we like working and helping others with projects too."

Two House Deigns work on a variety of crafts for commission in addition to work with local programs and schools in the area stating, "If it can be made with wood, leather, feathers, beads, metal, or plastic, we can make it."

He added, "We love working with all mediums. We don't call ourselves crafters, we call ourselves 'makers.' One day I'm making a kastowa, the next day I'm working on a pair of snowshoes, then we're building a bark longhouse, we don't limit ourselves. I also do graphic art too and incorporate it in a lot of projects."

All this and working full time for the last sixteen years at the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe' Social Services Division Traditional Support program. He still finds time for the Akwesasne Men's singing group Akwesasne Ratirennenhawi. They are often seen singing social songs for elementary and high school students. Akwesasne Ratirennenhawi have been together for over twenty years, sharing songs, dances and their meaning and significance.

Bringing truth to the old adage "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in life"