Maria Nelson
Maria Nelson is a MeĢtis-Ukrainian woman from Redwater, Alberta. Beading is a way of building and maintaining the connection between my heritage, my past, and my identity moving forward. My favourite part of beading is exploring how colours and patterns can play off each other. I began working on reconnecting with my community and heritage around the same time I began beading. My family connections are primarily from Saskatchewan and Red River, and it was my great-grandmother’s generations that we entered Alberta. I am a Lavallee. Piche, Arcand, Poitras, Anderson, and many more. It has been an educating and rewarding experience to be able to rebuild my connections to my past and heritage while also being able to build new connection in my present.