CANADIAN COIN FEATURES METIS BEADWORK

 

The Royal Canadian Mint has released the second coin in the series entitled Generations, which focuses on Indigenous Canadian art. An additional element of the series celebrates the passing on of traditional knowledge from one generation to the next, preserving overall Indigenous culture and heritage through art as well as the spoken word. The latest coin features the artwork of the Red River Métis and the tradition of their beadwork, which is a distinct and unique expression of Métis culture and identity, and an exercise in visual storytelling.

The coin's reverse engraving is created in an elaborate style that perfectly replicates traditional Métis beading. In lieu of colour, varying relief height and frostings help create a striking contrast that sets neighbouring elements apart while adding depth to the overall design. The inscriptions feature text in the Metis language, TAAPWEEYIMISHO (Believe in yourself) and TAAPWEEYIMIK LII MICHIF (Believe in the Metis), which are shown below the primary design and applied on ribbon streamers. Further below is the text LA RIVYEER ROOZH (The Red River). Above the design is the text CANADA 2022 with the artist's initials JK placed to the right side near the edge. The obverse includes an effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the denomination of 20 DOLLARS, which is placed below the Queen's likeness.

To read the complete article, see:
Canada: Second silver Proof coin in Generations series features indigenous Metis beadwork (https://world.mintnewsblog.com/2022/08/canada-second-silver-proof-coin-in-generations-series-features-indigenous-metis-beadwork/)

 

From the time Jennine Krauchi was a very young girl, she was always around beadwork. Her father sewed jackets, vests, moccasins, mukluks and other items of clothing, while her mother added beadwork designs to the garments.

We lived really close to Sioux Valley, so I remember the women there coming into my mom and dad's shop and doing beadwork. But it wasn't until around ‘93, when I moved from Brandon to Winnipeg, that I really got back into my roots and got back to my culture.

At that time Krauchi met Lorraine Freeman, founder of the Métis Resource Centre, who was looking for a Métis beader to demonstrate beading and teach classes.

And I thought, ‘Well, I'll give it a try', because I knew how to do it and I was Métis. She wanted to get all of these Métis cultural things back and have a rebirth of our culture. And it started from there. At that time [in Winnipeg], you would've been lucky to have enough Métis beaders to sit around a kitchen table.

This month, Krauchi's design for a new coin for the Canadian Mint was unveiled. The reverse of the 2022 $20 fine silver coin, called Generations: The Red River Métis, has her design engraved on it, which includes elements of the Michif language.

La Rivyeer Roozh, meaning the Red River, is inscribed at the base of the design, above which roots represent the Red River Métis homeland and ancestry. From the infinity symbol, which speaks to the Métis Nation's eternal and unbreakable spirit, flows two bands that represent the Red River. They contain the words Taapweeyimisho and Taapweeyimik lii Michif, for "Believe in yourself" and "Believe in (the) Métis".

The fire in the centre of the design speaks to a period of repression and loss, but the Prairie Rose—a classic Red River Métis motif—represents the survival and cultural resurgence of the Nation. Long stems are characteristically adorned with two or three bead accents known as "mouse tracks", while leaves and flower buds fill the pattern with a sense of love and joy.

When I found out that I'd won the competition, it was September 9, 2021, Krauchi recalls. So it's been almost a year that all of this took place. And almost a year that I had to keep it secret. I couldn't really tell anybody, and it was really hard at times. It was so exciting to think that our Métis beadwork is going to be on a coin.

Krauchi says when she saw the first drawings and engravings, she was absolutely amazed that they had put what looked like little beads all over that coin.

I so want to take it out of the case and touch it because when you see people's beadwork you just want to touch it.

But Krauchi isn't resting on her laurels. She says she's excited to move on to new projects and help keep expanding the scope of Métis beadwork across Canada.

I would say in the last 10, 15 years at the most, the beadwork has just exploded. Now there's beadwork symposiums and you can fill up auditoriums now with bead workers.

To read the complete article, see:
Métis artist returned to a life of beading and now has her work on a new coin (https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/metis-artist-returned-life-beading-and-now-has-her-work-new-coin)

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