Beads of Hope
Join us for our first quarterly exhibition in our Downie Wenjack Legacy Space at the Kariton Gallery from April 7 – June 25, 2022. Beads of Hope features beadwork from four local Indigenous artists – Brook Tobacco, Ravina Morgan, Karla Kay & Dena Leon.
The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples.
About the Artists
Brook Tobacco
@tobacco.creeations
Artist Bio:
Teresa Walker & Brook Tobacco are a mother / Daughter team and company who make authentic hand made indigenous products featuring items such as mixed media Bead work, Pine needle / Birch bark / Cedar bark jewelry and baskets.
Including an assortment of Drums / Rattles / Leather work / Bone / Semi Precious Stone / and Medicine products,
from the Nlhazkampx , Okanogan, Lakota, and Cree nations.
Ravina Morgan
@hummingbeadwomen
Artist Bio:
Âmow-piyêsîs Iskwew ; ᐋᒧᐤ ᐱᔦᓰᐢ; Hummingbird Woman ; Ravina Katie Morgan belongs to Smiths Landing First Nation in the Northwest Territories. She comes from Tthebatthi Denesuline, Cree, Métis, Central and South Asian ancestry. Ravina was born and raised on the un-ceded, ancestral shared territories of the Semiahmoo, sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ, təməxʷ (Tsawwassen), Qayqayt, kwikwəәƛ ̓əәm (Kwikwetlem), Kwantlen and q̓ic̓əәy̓ (Katzie) First Nations. Over the past decade Ravina has worked in various capacities in the Indigenous non-profit sector. Currently, Ravina’s work is through Skookum Surrey as the Indigenous Social Innovation Coordinator, SFU as a research assistant and owner of her own small beading business, Hummingbeadwoman. Ravina is also pursuing her degree in Child and Youth Care Counselling at Douglas College. Ravina shares her passion of revitalizing ancestral knowledge through the power of ancestral blood memory and works to connect to her ancestors by reclaiming their traditional practices while immersing herself in culture and community. Beadwork has become medicine for Ravina and her family, and it is allowing them to reclaim teachings that is healing five living generations.
Karla Kay
Artist Bio:
Éy swáyél, Kwelaxtelot qas te Wiijiiunmigunanikwe yel xwelmexw skwalex. Karla Kay thel xwelitemqel skwíx. Te litsel kw’e Sq’éwqel. Kwelaxtelot (Evelyn) the skwíxs thel tálelh. David te skwíxs tel má:l. Kwelaxtelot (Mabel) the skwíxs thel síselelh. Good day, The Indigenous names I carry are Kwelaxtelot and Wiijiiunmigunanikwe. My English name is Karla Kay. I am from Seabird Island. My mother’s name was Kwelaxtelot and Evelyn. My father’s name is David. My grandmother’s name was Kwelaxtelot (Mabel). My matrilineal line comes from the Stó:lō people who speak the upriver Halq’eméylem Tait dialect. I live and work in my community as a learner and a teacher.
Artist Statement:
Beading is something I do to keep myself grounded. It provides a focus for me that I’ve come to be very grateful for. My mom taught me this–how to keep my hands busy. She taught me how to make a lot of different things in my life and beading was something I picked up along the way. My older cousin first introduced me to it as a child. She used to babysit me and I used to watch her make barrettes she sold as a source of income. I had an uncle that showed me how to bead pens when I was a child as well. Neither ever really stuck for me. I suppose I could say I wasn’t ready for the patience beading requires. I can say now, I am probably still not ready. It was just in the last couple of years, I found this happiness when I started beading again. Watching something come together as you work. Playing with colours and taking risks even if the risks might not work out. Creating something that sparkles and has a life to it is something I cannot quite describe. Beading adds to my happiness
Dena Leon
@beadingheart.604
Artist Bio:
Lhkwemiya is Stό:lō and Okanagan and is a proud member of Sts’ailes, her home community near Harrison Mills, BC. Her traditional name, Lhkwemiya, was given to her as a baby by paternal grandfather, Swelimeltxw Ed Leon, as she is the third sister in her family. Her traditional name is derived from a place name which refers to a set of mountains in her home territory known in Halq’emeylem as the ‘three sisters,’ Lhkwemiya is the third sister.
Her father, Swelimeltxw (Rudy Leon) a craftsman, skilled drum maker, and buckskin dressmaker, taught her how to work with buckskin, leather, and beadwork; her paternal grandmother was a master basket weaver, knitter and crocheter. Both mentored her and inspired her to pursue interweaving traditional knowledge and contemporary art forms.
Due to a keen interest in the Northwest Coast arts, Lhkwemiya’s talent blossomed into a unique style of art all her own in beading and leatherwork. She was inspired by a beaded bouquet she created for her daughter’s wedding in 2012 which sparked an interest in learning, designing, and creating beadwork in many forms. She now designs for all occasions and specializes in custom creations.