Hannah’s hats: Inuk woman’s passion for making nasatuinnak is in her blood | CBC News

And Hannah Gordon absolutely loves making them.

“I started making hats when I was very young,” she told CBC on Facebook Messenger from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik.

“I used to ask my grandmother to make a hat for my new Barbie or doll,” Gordon said.

After one too many requests for hats for dolls, her grandmother decided it was time to teach her.

“Then my mother started teaching me to do designs. She would make hats up to the design stage, then hand it to me to make the design,” she said

Since then, Gordon has made around 1,000 nasatuinnak.

“I’ve sent hats all over the world,” she said.

But where these traditional hats really shine is in the North. 

“It’s the warmest hat you’ll have and it basically lasts forever,” Gordon said. “It can be handed down for generations if taken care of properly.”

And each one is special.

“It takes me a few days to do one,” Gordon said.

“It’s my way of relaxing after a long day at work. It gives me joy when I finish one. I’m proud of my work,” she said on Facebook messenger.

Gordon said she loves to experiment, too.

“Just last year I made a hat for my daughter who wears her hair in a bun.”

Sometimes she makes them to match outfits.

“The design and colours I come up with are sometimes what people request but mostly they just come from within me,” she said.

Gordon posted a collage of her hats in CBC North’s Arctic Sewing Room Facebook group and people were blown away by her creativity.

“Your hats are absolutely beautiful, your stitches are perfect,” said one member of the group.

“These are beautiful. I have always wanted one and these are fabulous,” said another.

Gordon has been overjoyed with the reaction.

She is proud of her life of traditional hats and says she’ll never forget where her passion came from.

“I can say I still have something my mom and grandmother have taught me and it will be with me forever,” she said.