Amanda Laliberte from Canoe Lake Cree Nation submitted a beaded Saskatchewan patch to add to the North American map project. (submitted photo/Amanda Laliberte)

By Nicole Reis

North American Map Mosaic

North American beaded map mosaic project bringing nations together during pandemic

Aug 11, 2020 | 3:32 PM

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country in March, Alaskan resident, CeeJay Johnson, owner of Kooteen Creations decided to engage Indigenous communities with a large scale art project.

The envisioned project was a map of the United States in a mosaic form with beaded patches representing each individual state.

The idea gained such popularity and interest on social media, Canada was added to the beaded map mosaic project. Johnson is Tlingit from Sitka, Alaska. The 33-year-old is also Dakota from the Fort Peck Tribe in Montana. She told meadowlakeNOW the project began in April as a way to engage people from home and offer a sense of community while isolated. The project rapidly expanded where Johnson received interest from Mexico, Canada and Europe.

“I wanted to give [people] a sense of doing something in the way of a community project,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be this awesome.”

The map became a puzzle where people from all over North America submitted their beadwork to collaborate. Socially, the project evolved into a contest where the public could vote on their favourite piece.

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Draft of final map masterpiece. A final map is expected to be complete in the coming days. (submitted photo/ Kooteen Creations)

Johnson received interest from a member of the public who wanted to purchase the final map masterpiece. She said so many artists invested their time to create the map, she simply was not comfortable profiting from their collective work.

After engaging with artists, she intends to print a graphic image of the map for sale. The proceeds of the sale will support new or existing beading projects in North America.

“Beading is medicine,” Johnson said. “Many Indigenous tribal programs use beading as therapy. In some places, programs go into correctional facilities to create regalia pieces.”

Johnson explained the intricate art of beading requires deep focus, which can act as a stress relief. The feedback to date from the project has been overwhelming from inspired people who wish to participate in the map mosaic, she said.

Kooteen Creations plans to hold another contest in January and hopes to engage more participants.

Saskatchewan

Amanda Laliberte, 34, grew up in Île-à-la-Crosse and is from Canoe Lake Cree Nation. Laliberte beaded the Saskatchewan patch submission. She says she was intrigued by the project when it involved the United States and when Canada was included, she jumped on the opportunity to create.

Her piece consists of a Tiger Lily flower and green and gold colours representative of northern forests and southern grain of Saskatchewan. As a novice beader, she started beading when she was home isolating.

As an early childhood educator, she owns a crafting kit inclusive of beads. She promotes crafting and beadwork among youth.

“My late grandmother, Ilice Aubichon used to bead,” Laliberte said. “She made mitts and moccasins, and I watched her do it.”

More of Laliberte’s work can be found on Instagram @beadzbymandz.

Nunavut

Rena Laboucan, 32, from Driftpile Cree Nation in Alberta created the Nunavut patch within 14 hours of the contest submission deadline. She was following the project on social media before committing to beading the piece. When she learned Nunavut was the final piece in creating the map, she waited for a period before coming forward. She said somehow in between taking care of herself and her young family, she got it done.

“[I asked myself] how would I feel if I was from [Nunavut] and not included, how would that feel for me?” she said.

After creating the Nunavut piece, members of the community supported her in including the “Hawaiian Islands” of Nunavut which were initially missing. A small string of islands along Hudson Bay belong to Nunavut territory and the piece was edited to include those islands. She’s received gratitude from Nunavut community members saying the piece was uplifting.

“I wanted it to be a piece that was inclusive of everyone and that was my point in doing this,” Laboucan said. “I feel like Canada is leaning more toward inclusivity of the Indigenous population in Canada. Nunavut is a big community and they should be included also.”

Nunavut patch created by Rena Laboucan of LittleBirdBeads (submitted photo)

Laboucan reiterated beading is medicine and brings people together. She said while she may not have met the people who collaborated on the project, she said it made her feel connected to others.

“Whether you know it or not, sometimes you need that,” she said. “You need that calm or something that connects you to other people. Especially now during COVID-19, people may be feeling afraid or anxious, it’s nice to have that sense of community that brings people together.”

Her initial step toward beading started when her son wanted to perform traditional dance. She and her husband created their son’s regalia outfit within two days prior to his traditional dance. Her late grandmother encouraged her to bead.

Lead by her love for hummingbirds, she began following Kooteen Creations on Facebook and made a point to actively seek details of what was needed.

Laboucan continues to bead regalia pieces for her friends and family and other beadwork public enjoyment. You can find her pieces at LittleBirdBeading on Facebook.

Contest submissions ended on August 1, where the voting process began of compiled entries or on duplicate states and provinces.

A final map is expected to be released in the coming days. You can find more information about Kooteen Creations here. Voting ends August 18.

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722