果冻传煤

By Francesca Du Brock, Chief Curator

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Artist and Ling铆t language teacher Kaasteen Jill Meserve grew up in Hoonah, a small town near Juneau in Southeast Alaska. Her love of artmaking and Indigenous languages was nurtured from a young age through Hoonah City Schools鈥� innovative approach to teaching Ling铆t and cultural arts. Now a successful bead artist and immersion Ling铆t preschool teacher, she reflects that the experience of growing up in an environment that affirmed and celebrated Tlingit culture and values has 鈥渋nformed everything I do and love in my life as an adult: I create artwork, I love to be involved in cultural activities, I love to work in our language鈥攊t鈥檚 always been a part of my life. I feel so fortunate now, looking back, to have had that experience.鈥�

Gaawta鈥檏.aan Dancers. The young Kaasteen is wearing a Power Rangers t-shirt.

When she isn鈥檛 busy with her young daughter or teaching classes of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds, Kaasteen can be found in her studio creating regalia, jewelry, beaded medallions, and sewing her own clothing. Over the years she鈥檚 experimented with a variety of materials and techniques, including knitting and crocheting, costume design, ceramics, and photography, but she is best known for her beadwork, which became the focus of her practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time of isolation, Kaasteen discovered the 鈥淣ative artist corner of Instagram,鈥� and was inspired by other Native artists to take her artmaking more seriously.

An octopus bag and a beaded pouch created by Kaasteen

Kaasteen draws on a range of sources for her beadwork designs: from pop culture and favorite TV shows like the sitcom Friends and the cartoon Rick and Morty, to traditional Tlingit forms, to everyday products and materials. Emphasizing her omnivorous approach to developing beading imagery, she explains that she was once even inspired to bead the floral pattern from a square of toilet paper on a pair of slides. She enjoys the challenge of translating diverse designs into beadwork. Likening the process to 鈥渕aking a painting with bingo daubers,鈥� she must figure out how to render a two-dimensional image with small, three-dimensional objects. She often sketches her designs first using an iPad and then beads directly onto a printed pattern affixed to cloth or animal hide.

Some of Kaasteen鈥檚 sources of inspiration

As a teacher and culture bearer, a huge part of the process for Kaasteen involves sharing鈥攍earning from elders and aunties, helping teach the younger generations, and trading tips with her community on social media. Kaasteen reflects that 鈥渋t鈥檚 easy to get caught up in security of knowledge. For so long, under colonization, we were told we weren鈥檛 even allowed to have our knowledge. So, some people feel that it鈥檚 a sacred thing that we need to keep and protect. But if we want this knowledge to persist, we need to pass it on to others.鈥� To this end, Kasteen has been offering youth beading workshops through the Alaska State Museum. She says it鈥檚 important to share a diversity of techniques and approaches to the medium.

Last year, Kaasteen鈥檚 beadwork was featured on the hit FX Indigenous American teen comedy Reservation Dogs. Created by filmmakers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the series features all Indigenous writers and directors, with a majority Indigenous cast and production crew as well. Kaasteen鈥檚 beaded medallions are a pivotal part of the humorous plot of season one. 鈥淚 feel so honored to have been a part of that,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 truly so groundbreaking. Sterlin is creating a pathway for so many Native actors, writers, and artists. He鈥檚 following an Indigenous model of natural mentorship and apprenticeship鈥攊t鈥檚 not a typical Hollywood approach, it鈥檚 a community movement.鈥�

Left: medallions Kaasteen created for Reservation Dogs. Right: Kaasteen with one of the show鈥檚 stars, D鈥橮haraoh Woon-A-Tai.

For Kaasteen, who has been working to create space for Indigenous ways of being her entire adult life, the experience of connecting with the Reservation Dogs team was a dream come true. Pointing to the traumas of colonization鈥攖he decimation of people, culture, and language鈥攁nd the healing properties of laughter, she reflects that 鈥渓aughter is medicine, that鈥檚 what it really is for a lot of Native people. You鈥檝e gotta laugh through the pain. For me, beading is about cultural resiliency and holding on to traditions, but it鈥檚 also about having fun, trying to be funny.鈥�

Header image: The artist in the classroom with her fellow language teachers

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Follow along with Kaasteen Jill Meserve鈥檚 residency for the month of September via the 果冻传煤 Museum鈥檚 social media channels and stay tuned for her livestream studio demo at 4pm on Wednesday, September 28^th via Facebook Live.