Beadwork is a pillar of Indigenous design. While various tribes hold different design specialties—the Navajo, for example, are best known for their weaving and textiles—much of the Native community across North America makes use of glass beads in some aspect. Beads can be found on everything, from contemporary art and fashion designs to more traditional regalia pieces found at powwows. “In some cases, [regalia] involves hundreds of hours of beadwork,” says Molina Parker, an Oglala Sioux beader, profiled below. “Most of the time, you can tell what tribe someone is from just from the style of beadwork and imagery they use.”

Indigenous people have practiced the craft of beadwork for centuries. Pre-colonization and before the prevalence of glass beads, they often adorned themselves with their own version of beads, making them through a laborious process out of bones, shells, teeth, copper, and other materials. When European settlers arrived in the 1800s, however, they introduced glass beads—originating from Venice, Italy—to the trading markets. These glass beads, which were available in bulk and much finer in size, became favored by Native craftspeople. This was a classic example of how Native people took an element deemed “superior” to their traditional materials, and then completely mastered it and made it their own.

Today, there is a new crop of beaders who are now taking on the craft, which has been passed down through generations, and completely modernizing it. Their works simultaneously keep their culture’s traditions alive while proving that artists can break free from their tribe’s respective signatures and create pieces that are, yes, even trendy. “It’s one way we stay connected to where we came from, and that it is our responsibility as younger Natives to keep the tradition alive,” says Elias Jade Not Afraid, an Apsaalooké beader, also featured below.

It’s a spirit we’ve seen in Native fashion design a lot lately. Prominent ready-to-wear designers and artists, such as Jamie Okuma, profiled by Vogue, here, are using beadwork on pieces that make a broader statement about their culture. Okuma’s hand-beaded Christian Louboutins, for instance, have an underlying message about pop culture and appropriation. Below, meet the eight Indigenous beaders who are redefining their craft, specifically through jewelry and accessories.