Why I Bead
My name is Meg, and I am the artist behind the artistic brand Nelie G. Mae. My connection with my maternal lineage is the heart of my beadwork, and I am a proud citizen of Red Lake Nation. I share my middle name (Elaine) with my mother and grandmother, and the name “Nelie G. Mae” is an anagram of my first and middle names.
Working with needle and thread is a powerful practice of cultural reclamation and healing, and I am so deeply grateful to have the ability to bead. My grandma gave me my first pair of porcupine quill earrings and a matching necklace when I was little, and she was a professional seamstress. My mother sewed some of our clothing when I was a child, sewed my wedding skirt, and sewed me multiple ribbon skirts.
Beadwork is a practice that teaches me the ways my life is woven together with my relatives. My art practice is a way of visualizing hope and healing within personal, familial, and communal grief. I bead in community whenever I can, and have been fortunate to work with the Dyani White Hawk (Sicangu Lakota) studio team and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe)’s studio team, in addition to my own studio practice.
Miigwech (thank you) for being here!
♥︎ Meg Elaine O’Sheaheimer (she/they)