Maasai Beading with Zipporah Machuki

Learn the Maasai beading technique, in which large beads are stitched to leather in symmetrical, geometric patterns. Prior to the arrival of the European settlers to Kenya/Tanzania in the late 1800’s, sticks, shells, seeds, dried grasses and other natural materials were used to embellish leather and create jewelry. Much like in North America, Europeans colonist traded glass beads with the Maasai upon contact. Beadwork now forms part of the Kenyan national attire and embodies the whole Maasai culture: it visually represents important values and status, such as beauty, strength, tradition, warriorhood, marriage and social standing.

Zipporah Machuki came to Canada on a scholarship in 2013 and is currently working on her PHD in Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba. She learned beading in school in Kenya, which it is taught to all children as part of fine arts classes in grade 1 through 12.