Beading art taught

In a world of so many people, from so many different backgrounds and cultures, those seeking a richer life don’t have to look far. There are numerous educational activities the People’s Center in Pablo offers the public, in an effort to create a better understanding between all people.

One of the ways the center does this is through weekly beading classes, where traditions of the Salish and Kootenai tribes are passed down from experts. Everyone who works at the center is a beader, willing to share the skills and knowledge passed down to them.

Mo Rost, a Ronan resident, embraces the people and traditions that flourish in Lake County. A retired insurance bookkeeper, she began beading last year and has taken several silversmithing and quill work classes at Salish Kootenai College.

Rost’s husband has been making traditional labor tools and rawhide pouches for knives. She said he thought traditional beading would be a nice accent on some of them.

“We’ve done other things all our lives,” Rost said, “and now we’re doing fun things.”

Rost has always been crafty, and has taught herself beading but recently ran into some difficulties.

“I’ve been teaching myself and realized I needed a lot more help,” Rost said, adding that she spends hours upon hours on the “soothing” beadwork she does. “You could get addicted to this pretty easily, I did.”

The peyote stitch Rost was doing on Wednesday is a technique local tribes picked up from surrounding tribes when European trading in the area began. A garment’s origin could be determined by the beadwork that adorned it, the center’s educational director Marie Torosien said.

The stitch taught on Wednesday was used to decorate a pen. Rost has used beading techniques to make jewelry and decorate cuff bracelets she has made. Beading is seen in most traditional dance outfits and is often used for affixing feathers to garments.

Nearly everything can be decorated using traditional beading techniques. Torosien said she has seen more cell-phone cases transformed by traditional beading techniques then ever before.

“As our lifestyles change with time and technology, we continue to preserve and protect our heritage, history and culture,” the center’s website states.

The center has a newer exhibit in its education room, where various accessories and clothing are decorated with intricate beading. The tribes purchased the items from Doug Allard of St. Ignatius two years ago.

Rost said she has been thinking of setting up a vendor’s booth in the reconstructed Fort Connah building with her traditional pieces.

“There are a lot of talented people out here that know how to do a lot of different things,” Torosien said, adding that a range of skills pass through the class. Torosien learned how to bead from her mother when she was in her teens. Her grandmother taught her how to make barrettes and medallions.

For those of us, like Rost, whose lack of tribal roots is replaced with an inquisitive nature in the history and culture of the land we reside on, the People’s Center is a great place to visit and take classes.

“We invite you to explore the artifacts and exhibits, and to hear the stories of our people in their own voices,” the center’s website says. “We also invite you to participate in our cultural activities, our celebrations, known as pow-wows, and other events reflecting the Tribes.”

The center also conducts moccasin making classes, cradle board, basketry and sally bag classes at various times throughout the year. For more information on beading classes, or additional classes at the People’s Center call 883-5344.