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National Indigenous People’s Day 2021

This year, in honour of National Indigenous People's Day, the New Canadians Centre is committed to learning more about Indigenous culture. We have partnered with Cedarlilie Bead Shop, owned and operated by Dominique O'Bonsawin, an Abenaki and French-Canadian artist, to bring you this Community Art Project. Beadwork is a significant part of Indigenous culture and grounds many teachings.

Dominique will guide us through the process to bead a Strawberry Pin. In many Indigenous cultures, the strawberry is known as the heart berry, evoking love and reconciliation.

Pick up a free beading kit with all the materials you need (details below) then follow the tutorial. Join us on National Indigenous People's Day - June 21 for a virtual check-in and discussion with Dominique.

This is a great activity for all ages.

We encourage our community to reflect on and honour the lands we live on.

Beading Kits

We provided 75 beading kits with all the materials needed for this activity available for pick up at the Peterborough Public Library. All kits have now been picked up.

But, you can gather the materials on your own then follow the tutorial video.

You will need:

  • Red, Green and Yellow Beads
  • Black & White Felt trimmed to 6cm x 7.5cm
  • Beading Mat - anything soft or spongy will work
  • Printed Strawberry design - trimmed to 6cm x 7.5cm
  • Two needles
  • Thread
  • Pin
  • Scissors

Beading Tutorial

Picked up your beading kit? Great! Now you can follow along with this tutorial video.

Dominique provides step-by-step instructions and tips to bead this strawberry design which can then be used as a pin. Watch the on-demand tutorial video on this page or via our YouTube channel. You can pause or rewind as needed.

Join Us for a Live Zoom Check-In and Discussion

Running into any issues beading your pin? Have questions about beading? Dominique will be joining us on Zoom on June 21 at 5 pm for National Indigenous People's Day to share more about what beading means to her as an Indigenous person and to provide support to you as you bead your strawberry pin.

Share on Social Media

Share your completed pins online using the hashtag #NCCStrawberry or email photos to [email protected]

Tag the New Canadians Centre & Cedarlilie in your posts:

Facebook: /NewCanadiansCentre & /Cedarlilie

Instagram: @NewCanadiansCentre & @Cedarlilie

Twitter: @NCC_Ptbo

This initiative is made possible through the support of: