Craftswoman pursues art as a living

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Beading has long been a favorite pastime of Native women. But for Karen Many Chiefs, a wife and mother of two young girls, it's also become a way of earning a living while still leaving her the flexibility and time to look after her family.

Many Chiefs, a resident of the Peigan Reserve near Brocket in southern Alberta, has more than average skill at sewing the tiny plastic beads she uses. her work is neat, precise and strong, but she also has an obvious flare for color and design.

"I get my ideas as I work. I don't really plan things first, though I usually pick about three or four colors to work with that I think look good together. But I just start in the middle of the piece and make up the design as I go along."

Though Many Chiefs has been beading commercially for about 14 years, a recent exhibit and sale at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was the first time she publicly displayed her work.

"I usually work just on contracts. People ask me to do some moccasins or a powwow outfit, or some small piece," she said at the Buffalo Jump's Heritage in My Hands show Dec. 6. "I was actually real busy with a rush order when they asked me to come in the show here. But I've done pretty well. I sold a lot of jewelry."

As a child, she learned beadwork from her mother on the Blood Reserve at Stand Off, Alberta. Later she took classes in beading at Red Crow College and began doing pieces for people other than her family and friends.

"At first, I didn't even know how to set my prices, but I started to see how much time different things took and learned to base the cost on that. I'll charge about $700 for a beaded outfit, if all the materials are supplied."

Though an entire outfit may be expensive, Many Chiefs also does smaller pieces, which she sells very reasonably. Sets of three fully beaded hair barrettes were only $30 at the \Buffalo Jump sale and sold well. Earrings ranged from $10 to $25 a pair.

"It's good money. For a while, I was working part-time in fort Macleod, but I realized I could make more money with my beading-and I could do it at home.

Many Chiefs does some work while her family is around, but gets a lot more down when she's home along, especially when the sun is shining.

"I like to sit at home and work on bright, sunny days. It takes a lot of patience and sometimes my fingers get sore if I've been working long hours on a rush job, but I enjoy the work."

A lot of her work is done on rush orders. Recently, she worked all through the night to finish two pairs of high-top moccasins for a wedding, an order that only came in that day. When she has no specific orders, she will usually do up smaller pieces to have on hands for gifts and other sales.

She also has a stranding order form the Napi Friendship Centre in Pincher Creek and several of the suppliers she gets her beads from give her orders for finished pieces. But commissioned pieces still make up most of her orders.

"Someone will see an outfit I've done for another person and they'll ask me to do something for them. It keeps me pretty busy, but I could still do more. I'm gong to make up some cards to tell people about my work and where they can contact me."