Children’s Regalia for Girls Jingle Dress and Fancy Shawl

Biographie de Weeyaa Gurwell

I was born April 1, 1948 at the Indian Free Clinic at Poplar, MT. I'm enrolled Assiniboine/Sioux and a member of the Red Bottom Clan. Traditional dancing is what I started doing years ago. I made a Jingle Dress in 2010 and used it to dance at a small community Pow Wow. I was dancing because I was healed of asthma in 2007. I had industrial asthma for 17 years and the Lord Jesus healed me, completely.
I'm a bead artist, regalia designer, writer and musician. I was raised in Boise, ID by my adopted parents. They were white but I always did Indian crafts; even though I didn't find out I was Indian until I was 27 years old. I now am retired and live in Idaho City, ID. All of my patterns are my own design. In my pattern books there are no repeats. These patterns can be used for cross-stitch, T-shirt screening, painting beading and anything you can think up.
One of my favorite things to do is to design dance regalia. I love to draw and then mix and match colors to get the best results. You can see that in my personal beadwork and regalia.