Coastal Bead Collective

Yo, We're a collective of Indigenous women from various backgrounds from unceded territories ranging from Kwakwaka'wakw territories, Nlaka'pamux people to Various Salish nations of the Southern tip of Vancouver Island and North Vancouver.

We started this journey with beads in 2014. It's been a lot of work to get to where we are today. A lot of trial and error, cutting and resizing and edging when Brandi was trying to incorporate a way to interpret her father's silver engraving for a college project. She Interpreted his jewelry through beading her take on his jewelry. Incorporating Eagle and Thunderbird motifs and colours from her father's homelands. To pay homage to her father through art.

Jenna began beading after asking Brandi to teach her. Their first lesson was a yelling match! Through trial and error the two sisters forged a bond through beading and soon were infusing their cultures through beadwork.

Chelsea was taught basics by Brandi in 2018, and they two have really grown together. They bead every chance they get when they're together.

The three have created Coastal Bead Collective together. Infusing their unique cultural backgrounds and personal flair to each piece they've created something entirely unique and beautiful together. We have since grown to add more members into our collective and even had guests collaborate this past year. It's been an exciting opportunity for us all.

They say "Beading is medicine", and we couldn't agree more. It's been a conduit for us to carry on discovering ourselves and reclaiming what was once lost. We are making our ancestors proud. We are revitalizing, reclaiming, and reindigenizing our lives one bead at a time.