Tamsye Stover began beading at around 12 years old — learning to craft intricate patterns and designs with careful skill and patience.
“I just love it so much,” she said, standing by a table stocked with her handmade creations: bracelets, earrings, bolos and necklaces.
A member of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Stover says beading is integral to her culture, but it’s become a personal release for her as well.
“I’m an introvert, so this was just my way of doing my own thing,” she said. “I used to get teased when I was younger, but I love it.”
The owner of The Chickahominy Beaded Turtle, Stover displayed her work at the inaugural Kennanee Native Arts Festival on Sunday at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
“It’s a part of sharing our culture and letting people know we’re still here,” she said.
“Kennanee” is the Powhatan Algonquin word for friendship — a sentiment that influenced the festival’s inception and purpose: to uplift Native American traditions.
Sprawled in the the picturesque garden scape, the festival featured live music from Native American musicians, activities like gourd painting and corn arrow throwing, information on seed preservation plus Indigenous cuisine from Mattapony Reserve and short-film screenings from Indigenous creators.
“It’s wonderful to be able to bring people that don’t feel very represented in general to the garden and have them interface with people and sell their wonderful goods,” said Mir Moyer, exhibits and programming coordinator.
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The Kennanee Native Arts Festival was created in collaboration with the Virginia Native Arts Alliance and Indigenous voices from across the East Coast.
“Our goal is to bring native artisans from all the tribes in Virginia together and to put on stuff like this,” Erick Krigsvold said in between screen-printing canvas bags with the festival name and logo.
Krigsvold’s work — found at The Native States Project — focuses on Indigenous education through art.
“We just want to bring native culture to the forefront and show that we’re not just the things that you see on TV or the things that you just see at powwows. We’re modern people, we do modern things,” added the digital illustrator.
While Krigsvold taught kids how to screen-print their own bags, his wife, Samantha, worked the booth selling his artwork.
“A lot of folks don’t even realize that they’re still tribes that exist here,” she said. “Or that they have land, or that they have a thriving arts community. So that’s one of the biggest goals, really trying to put on events and partner with different kinds of community organizations and locations to hold these events and really bring awareness to Indigenous art, and not just traditional art, but more modern art, too.”
The Kenaanee Native Arts Festival lifted Native American culture, offering visibility to stories that have long been overlooked.
“That visibility piece is important,” Kara Canaday said from her booth, Kara Taquka Creations.
“We have other events where we share our culture, and we want you to be involved.”