NWT Arts

I am mainly known as a beader. I do traditional beading on moose hide and I also do a blend of traditional and contemporary artwork. I started out by making moccasins, mitts and similar items. Recently, I started making cuffs with matching earrings. I mainly work on moose hide, but I also work with stroud, caribou hair, seal skin, shear beaver, and silver fox fur. I try to use natural materials as much as possible.

I grew up with sewing all around me. Learning to sew was part of our everyday lives. My mom, my sisters, my aunts, my mother’s friends — everybody made beautiful artwork and traditional items. I actually didn’t start beading regularly until I moved back to Inuvik when I was in my forties. I was reintroduced to it by my friend Janet Grandjambe, who was a renowned beader from Fort Good Hope. I met her in 2000 and she passed away in 2011.

I am constantly inspired by the land and the environment that surrounds me. I spend a lot of time walking outdoors. I love berry picking or to be out on the water. Of course, my Ancestors and the people who are still here today — especially the young people taking up traditional work like hide tanning — also inspire me greatly. Most of all, my biggest inspiration remains my friend Janet. She introduced me to different cuts, sizes, and styles of beads that I never knew existed! I even started collecting beads after she taught me about all the options available.

What I like the most about beading is that it has really affirmed who I am as an Indigenous woman. My mother, my aunts, my grandmothers, and my great-grandmothers used to work with natural materials just like I do now. I think that’s why beading and sewing helped me affirm who I am and truly brought me peace in my daily life. It’s so comfortable, and at times, healing. I think that, for those who have experience trauma in their lives, finding something that brings them that kind of peace is very special.

My artwork represents the creativity, the passion, the vibrancy of my people along with the land, the animal and our environment. I love to know that the hide I use has been worked on and loved by someone spending hours and hours on it. To know that it came from the land, from an animal that fed someone. To know I have the skills to create clothing to match the harsh winter of the North. This is so meaningful because it connects me to other sewers, and of course to my relatives and Ancestors. It’s complex, it’s deep, and it’s beautiful to me.