Presented by the Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse
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The role of beadwork in Hodinöhsö:ni life has multiple purposes. It has been argued that the value of beadwork is held in high regard because the parallel expression of wampum beads has key cultural and political significance. Based on a survey of multiple examples of Haudenosaunee thought rooted in quillwork, wampum, and glass beads, a critique of the importance of beadwork will be discussed with a focus on the mid-1800’s up to the present. The attribution of “raised beadwork” will be considered as an important shift in Haudenosaunee cultural perspective with microhistories featuring Tuscarora, Cayuga and Mohawk beadworkers. The work of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ – Cayuga Nation (lower Cayuga) beadwork artist, Samuel Thomas, and other contemporary beadworkers will be addressed.

Jolene Rickard is an Associate Professor at Cornell University in the departments of History of Art and Art, and the former Director of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program 2008-2020. She is from the Skarù·ręʔ / Tuscarora Nation, Hodinöhsö:ni Confederacy. She is a visual historian, artist and curator interested in the intersection of Indigenous art, cultural theory and the forces of settler colonialism. She is on the editorial board of American Art, a board member for the Otsego Institute for Native American Art and an advisor to GRASAC – The Great Lakes Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture and is part of the Inaugural Forge Project’s Indigenous Steering Council.

The Deeper Dives speaking series is made possible with funding from the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation.