Bead & Powwow Supply in Grand Rapids, Michigan, supports Indigenous arts by offering unique crafting materials and apparel.

Bead & Powwow Supply is a small, Indigenous-owned in Grand Rapids, Michigan, focused on promoting and encouraging Indigenous arts, crafts, and fashion.

Through her brick-and-mortar store and online presence, A. Ellie Mitchell, the owner of Bead & Powwow Supply, promotes indigenous arts and crafts by making available the sometimes hard-to-get beads and jingles used to make the regalia that is part of tribal culture. Mitchell is Eagle Clan, Anishinaabe, and is enrolled with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

The shop began as a stall vending at powwows. When Mitchell opened the brick-and-mortar in 2023, she was able to expand the inventory to include more colors and types of beads, apparel from various Indigenous owned clothing brands, Native-print fabric, banding, ribbon, art supplies, craft supplies, sewing supplies, and more. Her aspiration is to uplift other Native American crafters and communities.

The Start

Growing up, Mitchell’s mother made regalia for powwows. She also sold traditional Ojibwe dream catchers and beadwork within their community to supplement their family’s income.

After graduating from Michigan State University with an undergraduate in linguistics, Mitchell returned to her home and began vending craft supplies within her community at powwows held by universities.

Powwows are intertribal gatherings centered around dancing and singing. They are a modern tradition that can last for a day or for several days. Dancers wear traditional outfits-known as regalia-that can include beaded designs specific to their culture.

Powwows are homecomings where families share traditional foods and generations come together to celebrate their membership in the community. The “powwow trail” is a circuit of powwows held in different locations.

Some powwows focus on social and cultural connections and may include dance competitions. Dr. Carole Nash, professor of geography at James Madison University, describes powwows as “homecomings where families share traditional foods and generations come together to celebrate their membership in the community.”

Dance regalia is an important part of a powwow and there are often craft supply vendors at events supplying attendees with what they need. Every item of regalia is unique, and some are handed down generations.

Mitchell started an ecommerce shop to accompany business and, when she wasn’t on the road, she would put up her powwow stand in a back room and sell out of her house. She had part-time employees to fill orders while she was traveling and working on her master’s degree. She graduated from Central Michigan University in 2020 with a masters in humanities with a focus on Native American Studies. She now serves as Indigenous Community Outreach Liaison at Michigan State University.

This Indigenous-owned shop aims to uplift Native American crafters through a diverse inventory and community engagement.

Opening the Shop

In 2022 Mitchell decided it was time to open a brick-and-mortar store. Bead & Powwow Supply opened in a strip mall in Cascade Township and now has one part-time employee who works in the store, as well as two additional part-timers who help with copy, marketing, and shipping.

Mitchell says there’s not a lot of formal education around these Indigenous crafting skills. Instead, the intricate beading featured in tribal regalia is passed from person to person through generations.

As part of the first generation in modern times to be educated in a tribal-run school, Mitchell had art classes that included regalia-making and beadwork. She further refined her beadwork skills from online tutorials. Currently some of her shop’s most important customers are tribal education programs in schools.

Inventory and Goals

The beads that are used in regalia would be familiar to many crafters, but what is unique to Indigenous communities is how they are used. Sold in hank, the beads are used in geometric or floral designs. Modern trends influence traditional designs. “Beading is meditative for me,” says Mitchell. “I don’t even count beads. It’s very go-with-the flow.”

With the expanded inventory offered at the brick-and-mortar, more fiber artists are stopping by the store so Mitchell has started stocking larger beads that will work with yarn. She also carries ribbon, thread, and cotton fabric for quilters. To appeal to walk-in traffic, she has added a gifts section, including craft kits. She offers beginner embroidery kits, seeing embroidery as a steppingstone to gaining skills needed for beaded needlework.

There has also been interest from customers outside the tribal communities in learning more about Native culture and crafts. Bead & Powwow Supply welcomes all crafters interested in trying a new craft. Soon, Mitchell hopes to hire an education coordinator who can get courses started and build events in the store and the community. She hopes to launch a program to get basic beading and craft supplies into gas stations on tribal reservations, since on some reservations these only retail spaces available.