Cowichan Knitters Protest Olympic Games & Hudson’s Bay Sweater Choice

UPDATE! I heard on the news this evening the Cowichan Knitters WILL be providing their lovely sweaters to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games!

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Cowichan Valley Knitters are planning a protest against the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Committee and Hudson’s Bay Company’s choice of official sweaters, during the Torch Relay which will pass through their valley next weekend.

The local RCMP and the Canadian Government are taking notice! The organizer of the protest asked locals to wear their Cowichan sweaters to greet the relay to make the point that they think the official sweaters should have been created locally, rather than in Quebec. The RCMP spoke to the organizer to confirm the protest was planned to be peaceful. The Cowichan Member of Parliament brought up the subject in the House of Commons, so the knitters are receiving much notice.

Photograph by: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun

The sweaters the Hudson Bay Company commissioned are hip, colorful and very attractive from the pictures I’ve seen – but not authentic Cowichan. They apparently are selling like hotcakes already even with a price tag of $350.00!

The sweater the organizer of the protest was wearing was very attractive and unusual. No doubt they could have come up with a great design, without compromising the quality and history of their Cowichan Tribe’s trademark sweaters. Supporting this local BC business would have been a friendly option.

The Olympic Committee and Hudson’s Bay may have missed a great opportunity by not buying ‘locally’, but as a byproduct have created much controversy which brings the Cowichan Knitters to the headlines!

According to Coast Salish Artist Joe Jack:

“It should be noted that although the Cowichan Tribes has a ‘certification mark’ for their Cowichan Indian Sweaters; because all of the Coast Salish Tribes are historically and presently interconnected in some genetic way, and knitted clothing is used in all Salish ceremonies and communities, its definitely genuine if it was made by any woman (or man), from any of the Coast Salish language groups.”

I hope Global TV sends a reporter out to the Cowichan Valley to document the protest at the Torch Relay – I’ll bet there will be an amazing display of authentic Cowichan Tribes sweaters which toally surpass the beauty of the HBC’s knockoff!