RSVP for Traditional Iroquois Raised Beadwork

press release: First executed with stone and shell, later with moose hair and hide and now with velvet and glass beads, this traditional style of Native American Beadwork plays an important role in protecting and preserving Iroquois culture.

On Saturday, February 9, participants will make a 4” beaded heart in this workshop with a Valentine theme. The class is from 9 am to 4:30, with a break for a potluck lunch.

Instructor Karen Ann Hoffman of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin offers the beadwork project as a vehicle to explore Iroquois history, culture and society and its relationship to the dominant culture. Each student will leave with a deeper understanding of Native Woodland worldview as well as a handcrafted piece of Iroquois material culture.

“Sometimes, when I’m beading, I swear I can hear the old beaders whispering in my ear. Encouraging me to ‘do it right, do it well and honor our past and future,’” says Karen Ann. One of the things that touches her about the tradition is “its unbreakable link to our past and its suggestion of our future as Iroquois people.”

Hoffman’s award winning beadwork has been exhibited at many fine museums throughout the country. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum-Indigenous Clothing Collection, among others. She was also a member of the Skanikwat Project, Nakuru, Kenya, Africa, which used tribal beadwork as a medium to foster peace across languages, races, religions, and continents.

This workshop is supported in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Cost is $75, plus a $20 materials fee paid directly to the instructor. Please register by February 1.

Folklore Village is located between Ridgeway and Dodgeville. More information is available at www.folklorevillage.org or by calling (608) 924-4000.