Bead Talk: Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands (paskwwi masinahikewina/Prairie Writing, 1)

Sewing new understandings Indigenous beadwork has taken the art world by storm, but it is still sometimes misunderstood as static, anthropological artifact. Today's prairie artists defy this categorization, demonstrating how beads tell stories and reclaim cultural identity. Whether artists seek out and share techniques through YouTube videos or in-person gatherings, beading fosters traditional methods of teaching and learning and enables intergenerational transmissions of pattern and skill. In Bead Talk, editors Carmen Robertson, Judy Anderson, and Katherine Boyer gather conversations, interviews, essays, and full-colour reproductions of beadwork from expert and emerging artists, academics, and curators to illustrate the importance of beading in contemporary Indigenous arts. Taken together, the book poses and responds to philosophical questions about beading on the prairies: How do the practices and processes of beading embody reciprocity, respect, and storytelling? How is beading related to Indigenous ways of knowing? How does beading help individuals reconnect with the land? Why do we bead? Showcasing beaded tumplines, text, masks, regalia, and more, Bead Talk emphasizes that there is no one way to engage with this art. The contributors to this collection invite us all into the beading circle as they reshape how beads are understood and stitch together generations of artists. Cover Contents Foreword Who We Are Introduction Part I. Conversations 1. Mentoring and Beading 2. Mîkisistahêwin (Bead Medicine) 3. Parallel Lines Move Along Together: A Beaded Line that Connects Me to You 4. The Power of Gathering: Revisiting the Seeds of Ziigimineshin 5. Beads in the Blood—Curating Ruth Cuthand’s Art Part II. Essays 6. “Until We Bead Again”—The BU Beading Babes and Embodying Lateral Love and Generous Reciprocity 7. Visiting Kin: Indigenous Flatland Beading Aesthetics 8. If the Needles Don’t Break and the Thread Doesn’t Tangle: Beading Utopia Acknowledgements Spreading the Bead Love Far and Wide . . . Selected Bibliography