November 14, 2023

Two words: connection and mindfulness

Participating in Beaded Tweets today with Noelle Pepin was great opportunity to engage with the concept of two-eyed seeing and practicing walking in both modern and traditional spaces. Through beading students are able to walk away with a tangible item that is specific and sentimental to them while being respectful of traditional knowledge.

During the presentation, Noelle showed us her cousins tweets speaking to the main components to keep in mind when engaging with the art of beading. Beading requires so much more than placing beads on a string. We are required to have trust, discipline, focus, patience, and connection. We must remain extremely intentional with each and every bead we place while keeping in mind who our work is for.

A photo of Ootsa Lake that I took a few years ago. This is what I had in mind while beading.

In my practice for that day, I did my best to be as intentional and connected to what I was doing as possible. I have a deep connection to Ootsa Lake which is situated upon the traditional territory of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples. This is where a majority of my family has grown up, so I created a piece to honor a special place in my life. I chose “Ootsa” as my word to represent. I chose the dark blue and the light blue to resemble a lake and show how it shimmers when the sun is out in the summertime. While engaging with this activity, I tried my best to be as present as possible in my work and reflect on Ootsa Lake and why I had chosen to represent it in my binary beading. I thought about memories made there over the years and the landscape itself. I intend on using this piece in my Worldview Map that I want to take with me into my future classroom to represent the lake itself.

This activity got me thinking about incorporations in my future classroom. Throughout this program we have spoken about the interconnectedness of all things and that was represented well in the lesson planning side of the Beaded Tweets. Every element of the lesson from the set up and take down to the beading process itself had connections to the core competencies, cross-curricular connections and was embedded within the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Everything was so relevant and based upon the stories Noelle had about implementing this lesson into the schools, it was extremely effective and a memorable experience for the students which is what we are striving to create. Having this level of engagement comes with the close connection of key components to a lesson plan which is something I took to heart and want to incorporate in my future classroom. Furthermore, the lessons that come along with beading are all traits that will prepare students with life. Being mindful, having patience, trust, discipline, focus, and acknowledging connection will benefit all students and Beaded Tweets is a way in which we can educate on this while creating a connection and memory rooted in learning.