Mtis academic honours her heritage by beading while defending thesis

Danielle Lussierspent years weaving words togetherto earn her doctorate in law, buther hands might have sent the most powerful message.

As part of the defence of her 500-page thesis at the University of Ottawa, Lussierstrung together a Mtis honour shawl with images of berries, a bird and a herd of bison.

The traditional two-sided women's garment features some 24-karat gold-plated beads representing key events in Mtis history. Each design also carries deep personal meaning for Lussier, who grew up in Winnipeg and learned to bead as an adult.

For example, each bison represents a member of her family.

"The matriarch is the big 'mom' bison that stands behind the children," said Lussier,a Mtis womanfrom Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba's Red River Valley.

"She has on her back the law of the prairie, which was a Mtis legal system that governed buffalo hunt and community structures."

Lussier, who now wears her honour shawl to encourage questions, sees links between the beadworkand the law she studied to earn her PhD.

Beads carried law on Turtle Island when they were used to "entrench and codify and share law"even before the first interactions between Indigenous folks and settlers, she said.

Wampum belts, which have traditionally been used to call meetings and elections, also"allowed law and commitments to be shared amongst community members."

Watch:University of Ottawa PhD candidate includes beaded Mtis honour shawl with thesis

University of Ottawa PhD candidate includes beaded Mtis honour shawl with thesis

3 years ago

Duration 1:36

To earn her PhD in law, Danielle Lussier beaded an elaborate Mtis honour shawl as part of her thesis dissertation.

"Wampum readers were highly trained legal practitioners who learned how to interpret the beads in the treaty," she said in an interview with CBC Radio'sOttawa Morning.

Written vs. oral law

Lussier also serves asthe University of Ottawa's first Indigenous learner advocate, which was a position created to support Indigenous students in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action.

One of the key points of focus for that work, and in her beadwork, has been howEuropean settlers prioritized the written word, whileIndigenous knowledge systems were devalued.

"Mtis beadwork is considered an important dimension that complements an oral tradition, and it allows us to record a visual language of motifs and symbols," said Lussier.

"This is a labour of love that is to serve the generations that follow and also honour the generations that came before."

'Beading is medicine'

Beading has also carried more personal meaning in Lussier's present life.

Since the pandemic began, Lussier uses the craft to help her dealwith the pressures of parentingwhile earning her doctorate.

"I was beading through the days and nights as part of a mental health-care strategy ... In that moment of crisis in March and April 2020, I did an awful lot of beading," she said.

"Beading is medicine. It helps ground us and tether us to the world."