Indigenous Art & Sustainability: Hands-on Beaded Earring Workshop
May 28 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Come join Cheyenne Cunningham for an outdoor hands-on Sustainable Beaded Earring Workshop on May 28th from 12:00 – 2:00 PM. Cheyenne will provide a unique and authentic learning opportunity for you to gain a greater awareness of Indigenous people’s connections with beadwork, food, and nature. A BBQ Salmon lunch and all beading materials will be provided. This workshop is limited to 20 participants. We will meet in the Neville Scarfe Building, room 1008. Don’t forget your sunscreen and a hat!
The intention behind this hands-on workshop is to repurpose salmon vertebrae into beads. Cheyenne began this work in 2022 as part of a composting pedagogies project for an environmental literacy class. Indigenous people across Turtle Island have practiced sustainable food harvesting since time immemorial – using fish weirs, dip nets, and gill nets. In British Columbia, the Pacific salmon are a cultural keystone species and a significant food source for Indigenous people. The salmon egg represents the core, the symbology of the life cycle of Pacific salmon. Additionally, “the understandings and philosophies embedded with this centre are carried through time and across generations, through language, story, ceremony, practice and law” (Living Planet Report, 2022, p. 51). The salmon vertebrae beads used in each of the earrings are Cheyenne’s rendition of her understanding of language, story, and practice.
About the Artist:
ʔə́y̓ swéyəl mək̓ʷ wet Cheyenne Cunningham θə nə skʷix təni cən ʔəƛ̓ q̓íc̓əy̓. Good day everyone, my name is Cheyenne Cunningham and I currently reside on the Katzie First Nation reserve located along the Fraser River in Pitt Meadows, BC. I am English on my mother’s side and Coast Salish on my father’s side. I am in my third year of my PhD in Language & Literacy Education at UBC. I also recently graduated from SFU with my Diploma in Indigenous Language Proficiency. My research interests focus on the exploration of Katzie place names that have been identified in Suttles (1955) Katzie Ethnographic Notes, to surface knowledge embedded within these landscapes. I would like to examine how these place names can contribute to language revitalization initiatives.
Session Date:
Tuesday, May 28 | 12pm – 2pm
Location:
Meet in Neville Scarfe, Room 1008