Volunteers make wolf fur pompoms for Yukon's Arctic Winter Games athletes

It was just by chance that Lisa Preto came up with the idea to sew real fur pompoms on Team Yukon's ArcticWinter Games hats.

She was at an Alsek Renewable ResourceCouncil meeting last year in Haines Junction, and says the group wastalking about utilizing the pelts coming out of the local wolf trapping program.

"At the meeting, I was sewing pompoms and they said, 'oh, we should do something with those,'" Preto recalled.

Pretois a trapper and oftensews fur, includingpompomsfor hats but she'd never taken on such a big job. Shewould need to sew 400 pompoms, for all the toques to be worn by athletesand staff. She'd also need an additional 150, to sell to the public to cover costs.

Pretodecided toaskfor help from Haines Junctioncommunity members.

The volunteers had just a few weeks before theFeb. 22 deadline. Preto decided to make it into a competition called the "Haines Junction Pom Pom Challenge."

For every 10pompoms made, a volunteer hadtheir name entered in a draw for a gift certificate for food and gas.

"Volunteers have taken pompom kits which have all the supplies to make ten pompoms," Preto said."And they took them away and sewed them in their own houses, and now they are all coming back in."

Preto even posted an instructional video online, for the volunteers.

Culture and tradition

Monica Krieger, renewable resource manager with The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, says the project makes good use of a Yukon resource.

"Trapping has been an important part of culture and traditions for many thousands of years," she said.

"So we want to keep encouraging people to get out there and get trapping, and to see how the furs they provide can be used in local crafts, and seen on Yukon people."

The First Nations and Alsek Renewable Resource Counciloverseea wolf-trapping initiative, to encourage community members to get out on the land, and practice land stewardship. The program is also meant to help the moose population recoverin the Alsek area.

Preto says she is happy to be able to use local fur for her project.

"When wolves are trapped, they either get sent off to tanning and sold, or they get sent off to the auction and we don't see them again," she said.

"I have been dreaming about it for a long time, seeing real fur on the Yukon uniforms and seeing how different the pompoms are ... seeing that real fur is being used instead of faux fur or yarn pompoms these look really big and really impressive."

The South Slave Arctic Winter Games begin Mar. 18 in Fort Smith and Hay River, N.W.T.

• PHOTOS | Yukoners make fur trapping a family affair