Aurelia Stacona talks about her love of beadwork and passing it on to her grandchildren.

Bio: Throughout her life, Aurelia Stacona has been a dancer and beadwork, and has attended pow-wows nationally. She also opened up a church and ran a 12-step program on the Warm Springs Reservation. She passed away in 2019, three years after the interview was conducted.

Transcript:

I think I pretty much feel like it’s a part of me. Passing down. And I have a grandson that does tremendous, tremendous work. And I told him ‘I always considered myself a good beadworker but you’re doing excellent work.’ I entered one of this medallions in the art show. And it’s just, I mean he’s a perfectionist. He makes sure he does everything just right. I told him you are the best bead-worker of anybody I know. But I have one adopted granddaughter that’s named after me, her name’s Aurelia. And I started teaching her when she was about 7 years old and now she’s making her own outfits. And she’s a dancer, fancy dancer. And she does excellent work. And so that’s kinda like part, I feel like it’s part of me you know to have that gift passed on. And to be able to see that I have had something to do with that. And so that’s how I feel about the work that I’m doing. But that’s what I love to do.