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The purpose of the workshop is to ground our learning community in the culture of the first people of the land upon which we live. The tone of the workshop is quiet, patient and good natured.
The Beading Workshop is facilitated by Shoshone beaders Clyde Hall and Laine Thom. In this three-day afterschool workshop students make pouches of sinew and brain-tanned deerskin and then decorate them with glass beads. Clyde Hall is a Shoshone spirit giver, tribal elder and judge from Fort Hall, Idaho. Smelling of sage and tobacco, he shares his wisdom as well as his talent for creating beautiful beaded items. Laine Thom of Shoshone, Goshiute, and Paiute heritage works with the National Park Service in the Grand Teton National Park. He is a naturalist and a curator who gives presentations of his Shoshone culture. He is a well known author of numerous books, including "Becoming Brave" and "Dancing Colors." Both Clyde and Laine have had their beadwork featured in many national magazines and newspapers.
One year a student asked Clyde what he felt about interracial marriage—marrying out of the tribe. Clyde drew a circle on the blackboard and drew two lines through it, dividing it into quadrants. He said, “We see the world like this circle. There is red, yellow, black and white, but it takes all four colors to make up the circle. Therefore there is no one outside the tribe. There is a place for all in the circle.” The circle he drew on the board was a living example that the earliest myths of the Americas live on in our modern world.
Supplies for the workshop include leather, sinew, needles, thread, handkerchiefs, beeswax, needle-nosed pliers, scissors and beads. |
