Artist Profile | Tessa Sayers

We are so excited to introduce you to our newest talented artist, Tessa Sayers, who is the owner and designer of a lifestyle brand called Soul Curiosity.

She is Ojibwe, Cree, and Metis, and I met her a year ago in Portland. She was playing with the idea of launching her own business, and we are so glad she did!

We sat down with her to chat a bit more about how she got started, and what inspires her the most.

The Power of Creativity to Heal

A girl I knew recently passed away on New Years Eve. It was a terrible way to die. Our mothers were best friends, and she was just a few months older than me. We lived parallel lives, each taking very different paths. 

Her death is shocking, and it has somewhat paralyzed me. This place that I call home is undeniably beautiful - the air is sweet in the summertime, the frozen sunsets are candy colored in mid-winter, and there's always that last terrible blizzard in spring, but the smell of dirt as everything melts is an exciting sign of renewal.

The Power of Earning and Gifting Feathers

Whenever I get an interview inquiry from the press, I usually - inevitably - end up discussing and explaining the power and sacredness of the Plains Indian headdress. This is mainly due to pop culture's current obsession with, and appropriation of, this striking object. I take the opportunity to share a bit about the value systems that are at the core of these meaningful items of adornment.

Native American headdresses are significant for many reasons, and one of them is because they are comprised of eagle feathers.

Artist Profile | Precise' and Monā Lossie

One of my favorite events of the year is the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow held in Albuquerque at the end of April. I like it because, well, it's a powwow (and who doesn't like a powwow!?), but also because of the Indian Trader's Market.

Aside from the cheesy name, the market is a great place for me to scout new talented artists to promote and add to the Beyond Buckskin Boutique. Beadwork artists, in particular, are in abundance (seriously!), and I just love beadwork!

Blaze of Love: Choose Native-Made for Your Valentine

You know us!: We are always promoting Native-made art, fashion, and other items, and we show no signs of slowing down. New Native-owned businesses are popping up all the time, and it's never been easier to pick out something totally unique and special for your loved ones.

To help the cause, we selected 24 gift ideas that range from a mix-tape download to beaded bling, from a cozy knit cowl scarf to a bold shark tooth pendant and everything in between (like the unisex Power Quill Cuff by Michael Red Cloud pictured left).

Artist Profile | Tashina Lee Emery

The world is so big, yet it also can be very small and intimate. I met Tashina years ago when I visited the University of Michigan for an event. The students there were very inspiring, and I'd go on to keep in contact with them. I've seen them ace their finals, graduate, take on competitive internships, and become bright young professionals. And I was so happy when one of them, Tashina, sent me a message last month that she had just launched her own online boutique featuring her handmade jewelry, though she also creates fashion garments.

Beading to Heal

Hello Beyond Buckskin readers! I'm so sorry that I've been gone - a lot has happened in the past couple of months that have kept me away from doing my Beyond Buckskin stuff. I was dealing with a lot of medical issues, but I was doing all that I could to recover and keep Beyond Buckskin afloat! I'm coming out of it, I think, and playing catch up, and... catching up!

I'm incredibly apprehensive about this, but I wanted to share a little bit about my healing process.

Artist Profile | Chenoa Williams

I love beadwork. The tiny sparkling beads remind me of both the past and the future - when I see beadwork, I think about the stunning buckskin dresses of the past and the pixels of futuristic digital art. I think of beadwork artists as honoring traditions while creating a bridge for future artists.

Within the field of beadwork, there are many techniques, from peyote stitch, to whip stitch, to 'lazy' stitch and more. Artists use these varying styles to execute their vision.

Beading, Honoring, and Walking With Our Sisters

I just got home from the post office not long ago. I carried a very special package - a small brown envelope, actually - to the counter and shipped it off to Christi Belcourt in Ontario.

Christi is not only an extraordinary Metis artist, but she is also an extraordinary person with visionary ideas. One of her latest endeavors has hundreds of people willingly participating in a very important and powerful project. That project is called Walking With Our Sisters.

A year ago, Christi sent me a message detailing the basic concept - she wanted to create an art installation to honor and raise awareness for the 600+ missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada and the US.

Artist Profile | Leslie Whitefeather

Small beautiful sparkling beads dance around the wrist, woven into a matrix pattern around a sturdy cuff. The glistening qualities of seed beads, coupled with their tiny strength, are highlighted in the work of Comanche artist Leslie Whitefeather.

BB: When and why did you start beading?
LW: I started beading because I wanted to dance. My uncle Osmond Parton and my grandmother Marie Atewooftakewa-Yellowfish showed me a few stitches one day, gourd and flat-stitch round. It was fun, easy and I loved it. Also, many people I knew had inherited parts or all of their regalia. One thing that is most important about my beadwork, it’s made to last and for posterity.

The Soft Museum

"Fine art, graphic design, illustration, character design, and custom streetwear for the definitive hoodrat." - The Soft Museum.

Headed up by young artists Autumn Dawn Gomez and Nico Salazar, The Soft Museum brings us a fun and colorful artistic collaborative rendition of the world around us.

Beyond Buckskin is proud to introduce this new collective to the Boutique site, and their story is below.

Interview with Ann-erika White Bird

Ann-erika White Bird is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. She began her beading career thirteen years ago, creating moccasins for her relatives. She is also a rising star in the beadwork scene.

Below is an interview with her that gives a little bit of some cool background info on what she does, what inspires her, and what's important to her.

BB: How would you describe your work?
AWB: I would describe my work as traditional Lakota art with contemporary flair as I use contemporary elements. Beads have replaced traditional quill work in the art that I create. I use buckskin almost exclusively but I utilize not only beads but other modern items such as brass and steel buttons, sterling silver stamped buttons and whatever else appeals to me in creating my piece.

Chippewow Blossoms | BBB x Mea B'Fly Collab

I have a really cool job. I get to work with Native American fashion designers and artists on a daily basis. I'm hardly an artist, but their creativity inspires me more than they'll ever know.

A couple weeks ago, I was on the phone with one of the artists represented on the Beyond Buckskin Boutique site. Her name is MaRia and she heads up the super fresh Native-centered small jewelry business known as Mea B'Fly. She had an idea to do a collaboration with Beyond Buckskin for an exclusive earring design.

Designer Profile | Candace Halcro

Designer Candace Halcro is a Plains Cree/Métis from Saskatchewan, Canada. With her company BrownBeaded, she has been catching the eye of fashion lovers worldwide with her fashion-forward one-of-a-kind beaded pieces, such as her ultra-cool beaded sunglasses.

But the international attention didn't happen overnight.

In her hometown region, beadwork and other local Indigenous traditions are a central aspect of the visual culture.

Video | Weekend Project: Beaded Rosette

Who's down to whip out a beaded rosette with me this weekend? Well, that is, after my work and after my chores are done:) ...

Video | Metis Beading

Master beading artist Briony Goddard shares her approach and techniques of traditional Metis beading.

Some History | Independence Day

During the Reservation Era, Native people incorporated their cultural practices into US holidays, such as Independence Day, as a way to continue their then-outlawed dances and ceremonial life.

It was actually 'illegal' to do 'Indian things' like dance or continue ceremonies, so participating in holidays like Independence Day was actually a subversive way to continue traditions and keep the US government at bay at the same time.

Video | Delina White, Beadwork Artist

Artist Profile | Ann-erika White Bird

Ann-erika White Bird is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation.

She began her beading career thirteen years ago, creating moccasins for her relatives.

She is also a rising star in the beadwork scene. In 2011 she was commissioned by the Denver Art Museum to create a piece for their "Wearable Art" collection. This project was a part of an initiative of the museum to educate non-Native and Native audiences about the vibrancy of Native local artists, and White Bird was one of the Denver-area artists asked to create touchable items for the education area of the art museum.

Designer Profile | Yvonne Jobin

Yvonne Jobin is a Cree First Nations artist and designer based out of Calgary, Alberta, where she operates her business Moonstone Creation.

Jobin's knowledge of traditional Cree culture and art is reflected in the clothing and accessories that she makes for her business. Using traditional materials and techniques (such as for her jackets that are made of smoked tanned hide), Jobin continues the practices of the Cree people before her. She says she is dedicated to preserving and teaching her culture through the arts and with the use of authentic materials of her ancestors.