Our heart lies inside teaching and our community. Perhaps this part of our humanity is the deepest grieving during this time. The laughter, the stories, the transformation inside of cultural revitalization is the root of who and what we do. We had big plans! like many of you did in March. And like many of you, we had to get even more creative, more adaptive, and more resilient. Thanks to a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council we were able to teach an 8 week zoom beading and moccasin class. Co teachers Michelle Defoe and Sarah Agaton Howes gathered together with 20 makers in the making from across the nation. Challenging ourselves to teach what is a hands on...
In our ongoing efforts to teach our cultural arts,
we created this diagram to aid Makers.
Need Patterns and photos step by step?
Check out our Nookomis Obagijigan book
www.heartberry.com/collections/all/products/nookomis-obagijigan-grandmothers-gift-moccasin-pattern-book
Also, check out our tutorials on YouTube!
Are you following our Instagram Live series? We are hosting a series of casual fun conversations Thursdays at 11 am around cultural art, special announcements, and exciting work happening. Watch our origin story here, how has Heart Berry changed over the years? Today (June 25, 2020) Hannah and Michelle chatted over coffee about moccasin making, and how this artist wants you to be a maker of moccasins! Next week we will have an exciting interview with photographer Nedahness Greene about the role of photography in Indigenous communities. Watch for that July 2 at 11 am. Photo by Nedahness Greene And Thursday July 9, we are very excited to be having a conversation with Inspired...
Where we live there aren't many businesses. Big dreams are hard to come by. But we are both hardship and unbelievable beauty. Four years ago on a tiny Rez house on a dead end road we waited. We lived next to the amazing Pat and the now deceased Jim Northrup for 10 years. Pat is one of those Aunties. The one who raises everyone's children and would give you the clothes off her back. Pat was a touchstone of our community. Their family had followed the development of Heart Berry from its beginnings as a beadwork hustle. When I began working with the Inspired Natives Project Pat would stay up to date on all my doings. She knew I was waiting...
CNN featured Heart Berry along with other cultural artists and designers about mask making in our communities. Read the article here:
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ethnic-group-culture-face-masks-trnd/index.html
Today we are busy making masks to donate to our local lunch delivery workers. We have created a new easy mask making tutorial which takes 7 minutes!
Miigwech to all our essential workers.
