BEADING
TR’ONDËK HWËCH’IN ADORNMENT
In older times Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in were highly mobile, moving from place to place throughout our traditional lands harvesting resources and gathering with friends and relatives. We traveled by foot, packing our belongings, with some supplies and resources cached at strategic locations. There was little in the way of material culture that did not serve a function related to our survival. We expressed ourselves artistically through storytelling, songs, and the adornment of clothing, tools, and other implements. Women decorated clothing and other personal items with natural dyes, ochre, porcupine quills, seeds, and berries, as well as with shells traded from the coast. Beads eventually made their way inland and were readily adopted into the decorative styles of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Beading remains a popular activity today.
Photo: Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Archives.