Baby Yoda Bead This In Your Style

Grogu, more commonly known as Baby Yoda, appeared on the Indigenous art scene in 2019. A character in the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, Baby Yoda captured the imaginations of many, and gained something of a cult-like following within the Indigenous Community. “Our Baby” was declared to be Indigenous, and was quickly incorporated into Indigenous artistic practice around the world.

Baby Yoda earrings, lapel pins, and wall art: Indigenous artists did it all. I dabbled in this, making a few efforts at beaded lapel pins for my personal collection, beaded from crude and inexperienced hand-drawn patterns.

The Instagram #BabyYodaBeadThisInYourStyle was born of a pattern made by Eeyou artist @nalakwsis, and depicts Baby Yoda cozy in a mossbag.

Beyond the inherent cuteness of wee Grogu, I was immediately drawn to the pattern and the beadwork challenge having recently reclaimed mossbag practices in my own family following the birth of my third child. You can read about my first (very crooked and perfectly imperfect) attempt at beading a mossbag.

The use of mossbags is experiencing a resurgence in many communities. Long restricted through various legal and policy-based mechanisms, many Indigenous parents are reclaiming the use of these traditional parenting-nurturing tools, to the benefit of our children. As Métis artist Leah Dorian explained: “The Moss Bag is a beautiful inheritance, shared from First Nations’ women to Métis women that provides babies with security, love and safety.”

When considering the challenge, I decided to take artistic risks and try new techniques, beading the pattern as part of a set of mukluk pieces. I created the mossbags separately, incorporating beadwork-print fabric on top of deer hide to replicate blankets tucked around our wee ones before the bags are laced. 

When I undertook the challenge, I was not beading for anyone in particular. This is unusual for me, as my practice generally involves elements of honouring, healing, and meditative practice where I bead love intended for a specific giftee (link to gifting page) into each piece. Despite not having a recipient in mind, I found myself drawn to berries. One mossbag centres heartberries while the other centres blueberries – berry teachings are many, and these pieces carry weight. The fabric is tacked down with size 8 incandescent seed beads. Hide-coloured bugle beads were used evoke the laces. Coordinating vamps were beaded on black melton. One carries three blueberries, the other a single heart berry surrounded by three small flowers. Three: one for each of my own children.

Upon completion, I packed the finished pieces away in anticipation of the day I would be released from Covid-isolation and able to connect with a mukluk maker to learn how to proceed with the next steps of creating functional footwear. Several months of stay-home orders later on a zoom with a few Learners and alumni hosted by Dr. Tracey Lindberg, a Learner revealed their deep appreciation of Baby Yoda. I later learned of her personal links and her community-ceremonial practices related to berries. The beadwork has since made the journey to Mi'kmaq territory where the recent graduate is working with her migitjoo (grandmother) to create a piece of wearable art to wear on the next steps of her journey.

Want to learn more about online communities of beadwork practice as spaces of resurgence? Please see my article Legal Resurgence and Online Communities of (Beadwork) Practice in Can’t Compute.