Ziibiikwans was taught to bead in 2023 by Haudenosaunee artist Giselle Del Valle in Toronto, Ontario at the First Nations House Bead Group. In Anishnaabe (and many other Indigenous cultures), Beadwork is an incredibly important craft that has been passed down through generations and designed for spiritual ceremonial use, communal and personal healing, cultural preservation, trade and artistic expression. It is pertinent to acknowledge the communal shared efforts, teachings and patterns within the First Nations Beadwork community that have helped shaped Ziibiikwans style and approach to Beadwork. Such as Elexia Saari, Aunty’s Beaded Beauty’s, Beads by Julia and many more. Ziibiikwans creates each piece by hand and with one-of-a-kind beadwork arrangements.
In 2026, in partnership with Clear Seas and as the Indigenous Intern, Ziibiikwans was able to craft their first medallion for Chief Leela Thomas of their home community Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nations). This was to honour Chief Leela Thomas’s environmental and political advocacy against the controversial York1 Landfill proposition in Dresden, Ontario. To learn more about this, read the article Ziibiikwans wrote at Clear Seas.
