“If it exists, or can be imagined, it can be beaded,” says Salish beader Karen Kapi. Karen Kapi, born in Worley, Idaho, attended Sacred Heart School in DeSmet, Idaho, going on to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas, where Kapi beaded her first handbag. Since then she has acquired 178 beaded handbags, including more than 40 she has beaded herself. One bag in her collection took more than 100 years to complete, with five generations of women in her family contributing beadwork to the piece.
Each of Kapi’s handbags has a unique story featuring subliminal figures that are influential in the Salish tribal culture. The Omak Stampede Bag depicts 27 images hidden in the beadwork. Asked how long it takes to bead a bag, Kapi replied, “If you are inspired, it goes real fast. It also can take years to finish.”
Kapi accepts the challenge of beading requests and the demand for her labor intensive skill and valued time never wanes. One morning recently, Kapi sat with her family members and beaded in the People's Center, the Salish and Kootenai Tribes' cultural museum on the Flathead Reservation. On some days, five generations of her family are present, including Kapi's 85-year-old mother, Margaret Coffey, and her two great grandchildren. Her daughters Naomi, Pamela, and Kimberly also have a role in the family's art projects as they bead and create various traditional arts as well. Kapi, who works at the People's Center, beads for the public as well as for privately commissioned projects. She herself is a serious collector of various types of Native art.
Kapi has won numerous awards for her work including:
Best of Show -Lewis & Clark Days in Stevensville, MT 2004-2005,
Jurors Choice – Great Falls Native American Art Show, 2005,
2nd Place Southwest Indian Arts Association - Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1974,
Scottsdale Indian Arts Fair -Scottsdale, Arizona.
This is Karen Kapi’s first solo exhibition at the Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, Montana. Pieces of artwork for sale can be obtained from the Pikuni Gift Shop, managed by the Blackfeet Community College (406) 338-7954 or 338-7957, located in the museum.
After the show closes Kapi can be contracted directly at address:
Karen Kapi
1384 Little Bitter Root Rd.
Hot Springs, MT 59845
Tel: (406)741-2422
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