I’d like to do a thread about how to explore your own cultural history and avoid copying the works of other artists. Many of us did not have the privilege of growing up around Elders and their beadwork but want to use beading as a way of connecting to our cultural roots.

How do we do this while respecting the cultural copyright of other artists? How do we do this in the midst of so many amazing artists on social media? How do we do this when even museum records can’t be trusted?

Tania Larsson is a Gwich’In jeweller & bead artist. Recently, she posted on Instagram about her disappointment in beaders who copy the work of other beaders. Here is a screenshot, shared with permission.

What really got to me was the statement about not giving your own culture a chance to shine. How do we give our own culture a chance to shine? Tania gave us a list of questions to ask ourselves in our own journey and it’s worth sharing (again w/permission).

In response to Tania’s questions, I would like to outline some of my own journey of research, the pitfalls I fell into and some tips on how you can conduct your own research into your own rich cultural traditions.

I am not here to police anyone nor call anyone out. That is between you and your tribe. I want to help give you some tips on how to explore cultural traditions in today’s digital world. The power to connect is in your hands.

The first step is get in touch with Elders in your community if you can. This took me longer than I would like to admit but once I did, I started my journey into Nimiputímt – the Nez Perce language. I also connected to other Nez Perce beadworkers.

If you cannot connect with your community (let’s say you don’t know specifically), you can explore museum collections. I did this myself. I knew I was Nez Perce but I did not know which band. Many museums have online databases you can access without any special status.

Let me walk you through what researching a database is like. Let’s use the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian as an example. For the SMAI, they have an online resources. Click for their collections database.

Play around with the search terms. Remember beadwork, beading, beads all come up with different results - databases are like that. The results come up and you can start scrolling.

The results that come up can be quite varied. They will let you know styles, patterns, bead colours and the general diversity of a tribe’s tradition.

Here’s a video, scrolling through the results. You’ll see provenance, approx age, collector, media/materials, and a small history (if available). You can learn a lot about a tribe’s material culture history this way.

At the base of this record, you’ll find a subject heading. Clicking on that, creates thousands of new records for your to explore.

What do you do with all this information? For me, I sat with it. I went through the records and saw the variation and artistry of those artists before me. Coupled with the language I was learning and speaking with Elders, this helped me understand a lot.

Be aware that museum records are not reliable. I have had several excellent discussions with a Crow sister on if a floral bag is Nez Perce or Apsaalooke. The main take away though is that flowers mattered to both our peoples.

I’ve seen several Nez Perce floral bags and I learned: 1) symmetry is key; 2) imagination makes any flower shape possible; and 3) embrace all the colours. This is the piece I worked on during quarantine. It’s my design but 100% learned from my Nez Perce Ancestors.

There’s an Aboriginal shell necklace artist Aunty Lola Greeno who advises young artists to tell the story of your own family. I think this is great advice. But it’s also about your own story. Your own experience. You can’t go wrong with your own story.

I’ve made the mistake of trusting a search & ended up making Objiwe-style beadwork. I haven’t done it again but I also don’t sell my work so my mistakes remain my own. Selling your work means added responsibility to make sure you are telling your own story and not someone else’s.

In addition to museums, state and national archives, church archives and regional libraries can also be of interest. The Oregon Historical Society has an impressive collection of Nez Perce beadwork. Search around, you can never know who has what.

Also, as an anthropologist, I say this honestly, although anthros have been historically terrible towards Indigenous peoples, their records and photographs can now be invaluable for our own use. See what their ethnographies have to say & what they photographed. Excellent sources.

Now what happens when you want to do beadwork and you don’t have any historical photos of your tribe’s work? I’ve got some tips for that too - but after dinner. My tummy is rumbling. ;)

Okay oykaloo I’m back! So what happens when you want to do beadwork but don’t have access to historical beadwork from your tribe? It’s actually a question of not limiting your sources of inspiration.

So if there’s no beadwork, check out baskets. Baskets are a long tradition across the world and the designs found in them can create a lot of inspiration in your beadwork. This loomwork is based on a Nez Perce corn husk basket.

This loomwork is based on a design found on a Nez Perce leetskow or corn husk hat. It is also a design found on the inside of the Nez Perce dictionary. I have used this design in a LOT of work. I adore this design.

I have done animals, comic book symbols, pop culture, works from rock art and even landscapes. I also did an entire series based on candies. Lol. Here’s my Reese’s Pieces candy set...

I’ve also collaborated with fine artists to create their artworks in beads. This piece is based on a painting by Sharon Phineasa, a Torres Strait Islander artist. I talked with her first before executing this. The copyright belongs to her in my opinion.

I don’t sell my works so any mistakes I make are easily corrected. They also have smaller repercussions as I’m not taking money from someone else who is selling their work. But if I do feel like I’ve trespassed, I don’t post on social media before I get the issue settled.

This medallion was based on the confluence of rivers along the Nez Perce Reservation. But once started, I suddenly realised it looked very similar to the work of Jackie Larsen Bread. I have been a long admirer of her work and ledger-inspired beadwork.

I messaged her and showed her the work in progress and asked her what she thought. She assured me that she felt it was original enough and that I was not inadvertently copying her. I felt comfortable posting it on social media after that.

We look at so much amazing beadwork - inadvertent copying or cross-pollination of ideas can and will happen. How we handle it and how we benefit from it, is up to us. I have found that communicating with the artists really helps avoid hurt feelings.

Going back to Tania’s comment about giving our own culture a chance to shine and also creating roadmaps for our own nation’s future generations really inspires me and I hope it might inspire you as well. There are so many tribes and nations and I would love to see you all shine.