To call our Beading Workshop with Anishinaabekwe artist and scholar Malinda Grey a “workshop” is a bit of a misnomer. It was definitely more of a Playshop as our group resembled unruly Kindergarteners to a large degree.
Malinda Gray is a PHd student and course instructor at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa. You can find a link to Malinda’s Masters beading thesis below. She says it is written for ease of reading rather than in academic prose.
https://tspace.library.
There is nothing that gives one an appreciation for the skill and artistry that goes into beading than to try to do it. The design that we were taught was one that Malinda uses as an introductory pattern as it is very basic.
Believe me when I tell you that each one of us needed help constantly to take the next step. There was a lot of laughter as we struggled to learn something new.
During our time together we also each added a bead to simple single strand bracelets for two special people who we wanted to honour. Malinda explained that the word for bead in Anishinaabemowin is an animate word. Each bead has a spirit. And in making a beaded object each bead is touched by the one doing the making.
There is a long history there. The connection between the beader and their work has been felt throughout time. We began to get a sense of that connection as we made our own keepsakes.
Of course, we love to have fun and celebrate whenever we can so food was involved too. The bonus was that we came away with a beautiful bracelet that reminded us of our time together and some special teaching about the significance of beadwork.
