Teen entrepreneur creates beading business to keep Indigenous tradition alive

A 17-year-old high school student from Natoaganeg First Nation is trying to combine business and tradition in an effort to keep the art of beading alive. 

Shalyn Ward is using the information she learned in an entrepreneurship and business planning course to launch a business that lets her share her love of traditional Mi'kmaq beading with others. 

"I want people who suffered from intergenerational trauma, who weren't able to learn from their parents … to learn the art form of beading."  

Ward said she was taught traditional beading by her mother, Mabel, who taught herself to bead. 

"The traditional beading that I do is both basically appliqué stitch and peyote stitch. My mom taught me." 

Ward took more classes in elementary school and at the local community food centre, one which was taught entirely in Mi'kmaq. 

"I don't speak much Mi'kmaq myself but it was so fantastic to hear everyone speak and there I learned the two needle," said Ward, explaining the different ways of beading.  

With her interest in the traditional craft growing, the Grade 12 student at Miramichi Valley High School decided to attend the ICE Centre in Miramichi to learn more about starting her own business. 

The centre is a collaboration between Anglophone School District North and the New Brunswick Community College and allows Grade 11 and 12 students in the region to explore career possibilities. 

"First I wanted to do just beading," Ward said. "I wanted to bead earrings and everything like that." 

But when course co-ordinator Rob Lehnert asked Ward how long each item would take to make, he said the amount of work involved in each piece might limit how much she could produce.

So Ward began thinking of other ideas to develop her beading business. One was to create beading kits to put into off-reserve schools for Indigenous students to work on.

"I figured it was going to be easy. It's not so easy to get things into schools." 

Ward decided to create beading kits and sell them individually.

"It's basically like a starter kit."  

Ward has created a variety of kits to make an ornament, a lanyard, earrings and awareness pins. The kits contain the beads, string, needles, and instructions to make the piece. She hopes to have all the kits ready to sell by the end of March.

On her website, Shaybear Beadwork, Ward says she wants to 'bring awareness to indigenous culture one kit at a time.'

Ward is now teaching beading at the Natoaganeg Community Food Centre- Pistamune'kemk. While she was asked to teach as a way to engage young people, she said all ages are attending. 

While for many it is new, Ward said it's also a great way for expert beaders to "experience the positive vibes that come with beading." 

Despite not achieving her goal yet of getting the beading kits into schools, it's something Ward plans to continue to pursue. In the meantime, she has returned to the entrepreneurship and business planning course and has been invited to teach a beading class at a local school.  

Lehnert said this is why the ICE centre was created.

"Shay is the perfect example of what the program is designed for. It's designed to support those students that have an idea and want to take it to market."

"The real focus is to start a business and to create something that is feasible either locally or provincially." 

Lehnert said Ward developed her business during the first semester, officially launching it in December with a social media page and website to sell her beaded candy cane ornament. 

"She was able to enrol again second semester because she wanted to continue with her business and continue to grow the business." 

Lehnert said Ward was able to connect her passion and her culture to her business. 

"She is a prime example of a success story."