I am Lakota (Sioux) and Cheynne. As of fall, 2009, I am finally an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe.

My mother taught me to do beadwork starting when I was about 7 years old. Often we find that our strengths and weaknesses mesh well, so that some projects are mainly the work of one of us, with some help from the other.

I grew up near St. Louis, MO, in and around a small town called Wentzville. I now live in the Detroit area.

Part of my motivation for starting this store on-line came because of the experiences my mother and I have had over the years in trying to sell beadwork. You can only spend so much money and have so many finished projects in the house before you have to do something. We tried consignment shops - some worked, some didn't, most were out of business within a year. One was bought by a new owner, who wanted "cheap things for tourists to buy" even if that meant that the store didn't sell anything authentic. At the time, we lived near the beginning point of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which happened on the Missouri River in St. Charles, MO. Even there, with all the historical accuracy, very few things sold. Very few stores wanted "real" beadwork. I wanted to make authentic beadwork available to the public, so that I can continue to enjoy making it.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at janet@lakotacreations.com