Bringing communities together, one stitch at a time

A close-up shot of a workshop participant’s hand, fingers gripping the end of a strand of white thread. Piles of small, colourful beads can be seen on the table, as well as the early stages of a beaded keychain.

In celebration of June being both National Indigenous History Month and Pride Month, The Ottawa Hospital hosted a beading workshop for Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ staff and their allies.

Check out the photo essay below to learn more:

Two side-by-side photos of Kaytlyn Nadjiwon. The first photo is a portrait of Kaytlyn standing outside the General Campus beside a tree. The second photo is a close-up shot of one of her handmade beaded strawberry-pattern earrings. — “I find beading really meditative”: The workshop was led by Kaytlyn Nadjiwon, a popular Ottawa-based beadwork artist of Ojibwe (her maternal grandfather is from Neyaashiinigmiing) and Italian descent who is also part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Kaytlyn learned how to bead in 2018 from a friend who is Algonquin and found herself “immediately obsessed” with the practice. Today, Kaytlyn teaches classes on beadwork and sells her own creations online and at art markets around the city under the moniker Soft But Sturdy Beadwork.

A workshop participant sewing green beads onto her pattern. The workspace in front of her is cluttered with beads, scissors, white thread, a notepad, glasses, phones and a disposable cup of tea. — “Beading isn’t about perfection; it’s about the process”: Staff members from across The Ottawa Hospital attended the workshop, filling the boardroom at the General Campus with conversation and laughter. Kaytlyn walked the group through each step of the process, from threading their needles to stitching string after string of colourful beads – tautly, not tightly! – onto the patterns she’d provided.

Two hands holding a beadwork monarch butterfly, made of black, white and orange beads. — “People are more open to listening when their hands are busy”: Kaytlyn completed her first piece of beadwork – a monarch butterfly – while sitting at her late mother’s bedside at the Civic Campus in 2019. She shared this meaningful story at the workshop, as did other participants who spoke candidly about their complex experiences as Indigenous people and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

A group of people standing in a circle, holding out their beaded creations, as well as the take-home kits prepared by workshop facilitator, Kaytlyn. — “Creativity looks different for everyone”: When the workshop ended, each participant received a free take-home kit containing all the materials needed to complete their patterns and turn them into keychains. Organized as a collaboration between The Ottawa Hospital’s Indigenous Employee Network and Pride Community@TOH, both groups look forward to holding more joint events like this in the future to help further strengthen the ties between their communities.

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