PRIDE AND JOY: Group of Indigenous incarcerated women create beadwork for sale outside jail

By: Dave Baxter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Sun

Tryli Anderson will always remember the feelings of pride and of accomplishment that she felt that first time she sent her handmade beadwork from her jail cell in Headingley out to her children back home.

“I sent some of the first pieces I made to my kids and it felt so good, especially with them out there and me being in here,” 40-year-old Anderson said over the phone from the Headingley Women’s Correctional Centre west of Winnipeg, where she is currently incarcerated.

“They were so happy that they got them, and I just felt proud that I had actually made them myself and they came from my own hands.”

She also remembers how surprised her children were to receive handmade beadwork from their mom, because it wasn’t something they even realized she knew how to do.

“They were like, ‘mom, you really did this?’ ” Anderson said with a giggle. “They were just so happy. They couldn’t even believe that their mom did that.”

Anderson, a longtime Winnipeg resident and a member of the Pinaymootang First Nation, said she has been in and out of jail for the last few years, while struggling with addictions issues.

When she was in a jail cell back in 2018, her cellmate took the time to teach her how to do beadwork, and it is something Anderson has now grown to love, because it allows her to create art from within her jail cell, but also because it keeps her mind busy while in jail.

“It just helps me so much, because it keeps me from thinking about the negative stuff,” she said. “With being in here and being in your cell for so long it’s easy to get into those negative thoughts.

“It helps to pass the time because instead I can think about what my work is going to look like, and what I want to work on next.

“It takes a lot of that bad thinking away.”

And while beading has become a hobby and a passion for Anderson, it has also now blossomed into much more, as she and a group of Indigenous women incarcerated at Headingley are now creating beadwork and having it sold outside of the jail thanks to a partnership with a friend of hers.

Winnipeg woman Sandra Burling, who met Anderson when her own daughter was previously dating Anderson’s son, said she received one of Anderson’s pieces of beadwork as a gift in the spring of 2020, and posted a picture of it online.

Not long after she said she started getting messages from people asking about the beadwork, and even wondering if it was something that was for sale.

“The reason this started is because I thought her beadwork was phenomenal and other people thought it was phenomenal, and I just asked her if she would be interested in selling it,” she said.

Burling has now started helping to sell the beadwork of 14 incarcerated Indigenous women through what she is calling Women Helping Women Beadwork. She now receives the work from the women and works to sell it, while also promoting and showcasing it in a number of ways, including on an Instagram account that she has created.

She said Anderson could have kept the idea to herself, but instead started sharing the art of beadwork with others in the jail, and now several women have joined her in creating and selling their work.

“The reason so many women are now involved is all because of her generosity,” Burling said. “She didn’t want to keep this to herself, she is sharing with the other ladies and allowing them to take part in something that is empowering them, and allowing them to make a little bit of money.

Burling said she now has orders from all over the world, even shipping some work to Australia recently.

While she wants to share the women’s work, Burling said she also does what she does because she doesn’t want people to forget about those women who are living behind bars.

“This can be a forgotten group of women and there are a lot of harsh judgments out there, and I just want to show that these are smart and talented and amazing women,” she said.

“I never expected it to get this big, but I love it because it’s offering them some help and some hope.”

While Anderson continues to create her art from her jail cell, she said she feels blessed to have a friend like Burling on the outside to help and support her.

“She is amazing,” Anderson said. “I actually never knew that people could be so kind.”

Despite what has been many struggles for Anderson in her life, she said her newfound passion has now given her far more purpose than she has felt in a long time, and she hopes that when she gets out of jail to continue beading, and using her art to stay on the right path in her life.

“I am doing something positive that I can share and that makes people happy, it’s a way to connect with people and when you are in here those connections feel really good,” Anderson said.

“I want to make changes and I want to continue to do this, because it helps me stay out of trouble, and it keeps me on a good path.”

Information on Women Helping Women Beadwork including images of the work and info on how to purchase items can be found by searching womenhelpingwomen_beadwork on Instagram.