Traditional sweaters hand-made by B.C. aboriginal knitters will be part of the official line of Olympic clothing, after an agreement was reached between Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Tribes and the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Hudson’s Bay spokeswoman Shari Burnett said Monday there now is a deal with the Cowichan Tribes of the Duncan area, 60 kilometres north of Victoria, to sell genuine, hand-knit Cowichan sweaters in the company’s flagship Olympic store.
“We are expecting some sweaters from the Cowichan Tribes to be inside the Olympic superstore on Feb.1,” Burnett said.
The Cowichan Tribes objected publicly last fall when the Bay introduced its Olympic apparel because one sweater, selling for about $350, appears to be similar in design and look to the Cowichan sweaters, for which the Cowichan Tribes are widely known.
“We believe they are not very good knock-offs of the genuine Cowichan sweater,” Cowichan Tribes general manager Ernest Elliott told the Vancouver Sun, in October. “Anything that tries to resemble a genuine Cowichan sweater is a fake.”
The Cowichan said they viewed the Olympics as an opportunity to sell their sweaters to the world–band administrators envisioned selling 700 or more sweaters–but negotiations with the Bay did not result in a deal.
The heavy wool sweaters are best known for their traditionally grey, white and black designs, which focus on West Coast animals and nature scenes.
Cowichan knitter Martina Wilson said she can knit about three sweaters a week but she has not been officially told about the deal, and she’s frustrated at the prospect of being shut out of a potential Olympic paycheque.
“I hear that they are taking sweaters, but they haven’t called me yet,” said Wilson, a knitter with 35 years of experience. “I am getting tired of waiting.”
Burnett would not say how many of the Cowichan sweaters will be made available at the Bay store in downtown Vancouver, but another, smaller retailer who carries Cowichan sweaters said the controversy has been good for business.
