Traditions Carried On: Delaware Woman Passes on Art of Beadwork

By Abigail Singrey
Staff Reporter
Monday, January 24, 2011

Annette Ketchum began learning bead work out of necessity. Her husband, former Delaware chief Dee Ketchum and their children needed dance sticks and beaded handles for their eagle feather fans to take to a powwow.

She soon discovered she had a real love of beadwork.

"It was therapeutic," Ketchum said.

Her grandmother began teaching her when she was young, but it was not until later that she began to seriously study how to do it.

The Delaware Powwow was founded in 1964 and became an annual event in Copan. Ketchum decided her family needed clothing to wear.

The Ketchums were living in Lawrence, Kan., in the early 1970s. Her daughters were playing in a field and found a dead bird, which they brought home. Ketchum decided to use it to make dance fans. They discarded it all but the long wing feathers — which provided enough to make two fans.

The two girls — who were around 7 and 8 years old — helped Ketchum bead the fans, and they took them to the powwow that summer.

When the elders of the tribe saw the fans, they were shocked. Ketchum had accidentally used an owl, which was an omen of death to the Delaware.

"We didn’t know the bird was an owl," Ketchum said.

She credits this incident as being a turning point. They put the dance sticks away until they could find the proper feathers, and Ketchum began to learn more about how to make the traditional clothing.

Today Ketchum has made two bandoliers, which cross over the shoulders like a sash. She also sews the traditional clothing for her family, as well as beaded dance sticks, otter hats, tulip purses and more.

"Anyone can do it if they have the patience," Ketchum said. "Everybody has (some artistic ability), because everyone has their own idea of what looks good."

She uses traditional Delaware patterns that she modifies to fit the space she has. Ketchum starts by putting the design on the bandolier, and then she fills in the background with beads. Every so often, she will put in a larger bead or a darker bead to draw the eye and make the beadwork more interesting, she said.

Her favorite part is choosing colors that will go together, she said.

The Delawares use mostly primary colors, she said, and she tries to work the Delaware colors — red, black and white — into each piece she does. She refuses to use pastels.

"You (don’t) get the feeling of a sunset in the southwest when you look at my work," Ketchum said.

Ketchum has been working to pass on the skills she learned first from her grandmother to the younger members of the tribe. She began teaching her grandchildren to string beads when they were four, she said, and by the time they were six, they were using a needle.

She has held classes to teach the peyote stitch, or gourd stitch, which can be used for flatwork such as the bandoliers.

She hopes to complete her third bandolier soon, so she can pass them on to her three grandsons someday. Meanwhile, the need for new clothes for the powwow will keep her busy sewing and repairing, she said.

Note: This article originally appeared in the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise on January 24, 2011. Used by permission; copypright Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, all rights reserved.