This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.Darci Everson, owner of EverBead and a mother of three, prepares beading kits at home for First Nation organizations as well to be sent north for communities. On her wrists, Everson had tattoos made from self portraits of her first two children, Mem and Moon, made when they were six years old.
The beading kits and seasonal bundles are made of up traditional and contemporary materials sourced from places like the bushes of Northwestern Ontario for birch bark as well as Indigenous suppliers for items like elk antler pieces and brain-tanned hide. The seasonal bundles have been so popular that Ms. Everson is planning to sell them as a subscription service. She also hosts virtual workshops that bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous crafters together.
Then last year, while on maternity leave from her work with the Ontario Native Women’s Association and recently relocated to Thunder Bay, Ms. Everson started to promote EverBead on social media. A family member also invested $1,500 in the business, and “it snowballed from there,” Ms. Everson said.was a helpful supplement to her income, but by January of this year, she quit her full-time job as a mental health co-ordinator to focus on her three young children.
Ms. Emerson said the sessions have become a sacred space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants alike to connect and share stories. And she’s not alone. Kathy Oakley, an Indigenous woman from Fort William First Nation now living in Thunder Bay, said when her mother gave her some quills last year, she didn’t know what she was going to do with them. While her mother – who was adopted and raised by a non-Indigenous family – reconnected to her community and traditions some time ago, Ms. Oakley only recently started to learn.