by Alutiiq Museum Archaeological Repository
Today (November 1st, 2022), the Alutiiq Museum released instructions for making an Alutiiq-style beaded headdress. A paperback book and four accompanying video tutorials provide step-by-step directions for transforming beads, leather, and thread into the iconic Alutiiq woman’s garment.
The instructions are part of the Museum’s Nacaq–Headdress project, a collaboration with expert Alutiiq beader Kayla McDermott to document and teach headdress construction. The project was generously funded by a grant to the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak from the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The headdress is the most popular beaded garment, but it is also the most difficult to make. With the help of McDermott, the new resources break the process into four stages. Each stage is captured by a section of the 48-page publication and a short video featuring McDermott at work.
After an introduction to the materials and tools needed, McDermott teaches viewers how to cut leather pieces and then bead each section—the cap, the fringe, and the train. The book ends with a look at the headdresses in the Alutiiq Museum’s collections.
“In addition to the instructions, we added some inspiration to the book,” said Alutiiq Museum Executive Director April Laktonen Counceller. “Every headdress has a unique design. No two are alike. To help beaders imagine the design possibilities, we share photos of nine beaded headdresses in our collections. With each photo there is information about the artist who created the headdress and the symbolism in the piece.”
The book features the creations of Patricia Abston Cox, Melinda Abyo, Leona Haakanson Crow, Kayla McDermott, June Pardue, and Marie Skonberg. Many of these pieces were purchased for the museum’s collections with support from the Alaska Art Fund created by Rasmuson Foundation and Museums Alaska.
The Nacaq project reflects the museum’s broader efforts to help Alutiiq artists live and practice their culture. Counceller explains. “Headdress making is a particularly meaningful activity. When you bead a headdress, you practice a cultural art, and you also create a garment that can be worn to express your heritage. Alutiiq women wear headdresses to cultural events and celebrations. This project makes it possible for many more people to both make a headdress and express themselves by wearing one. We look forward to seeing many unique and beautiful creations.”
The videos and a PDF version of the book are available for free on the beading page of the museum’s website (https://alutiiqmuseum.org/learn/the-alutiiq-sugpiaq-people/cultural-arts/beading). The museum will share print copies of the book with tribes, corporations, libraries, and schools. A limited supply of print copies will also be available for free to the public in the museum gallery.
“The next step is to host workshops,” said Counceller. “The instructions are excellent, but headdress beading is complicated. Having opportunities to learn from skilled artists and to work with a group is the Alutiiq way. Sixty people applied for sixteen spots in our first workshop, which will be held later this month. We are currently applying for funding to hold additional workshops in 2023.”
The Alutiiq Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history and culture of the Alutiiq, an Alaska Native tribal people. Representatives of Kodiak Alutiiq organizations govern the museum with funding from charitable contributions, memberships, grants, contracts, and sales.
