Indigenous crafting kits help more people learn the skills, say Manitoba entrepreneurs
CBC
Two Indigenous women in Manitoba have built businesses out of helping people learn skills like beading, while also learning about their traditions.
Shawna Spence recently started creating and selling beading kits online. The Peguis First Nation member, who lives in Winnipeg, said she began making them to help more people learn the craft.
"I've had a lot of inquiries from people wanting me to bead for them, whether it be earrings or pieces of regalia, but I work full time and I have children so I don't have a whole lot of time to bead for others," she said.
Spence first attempted to bead about 15 years ago with only verbal instructions, and said it didn't turn out well. However, when the pandemic began she tried again, this time using online tutorials.
"There was a lot of trial and error," Spence said.
"I bought certain beads, but I didn't know how to use them, so I had to go back and try different beads."
That process also got expensive, she said.
Spence plans to create smaller beading kits that are more budget-friendly for beginner beaders, and hopes to provide tutorials for her customers.
"It can get so overwhelming, there's so much out there now," she said.
"I want to give them a step-by-step-by-step tutorial, so they're not having to spend so much time looking for certain videos."
A Métis woman from Winnipeg created moccasin- and mukluk-making kits about six years ago to help others learn the skill, and learn more about her culture.
Brittany Stoppel discovered her Métis roots as an adult.
"My mom's side, her dad was Métis and he hid the culture from her, and was ashamed of it," she said.
"So we grew up not knowing anything about it at all, until I reached my early 20s."