Beaded tweets: Bringing the digital back to the physical through culture (beading)

Nelson Leeson (2007) described success for Nisga’a students as the ability to “dance in both worlds” (p. 9). This project combines binary coding language with loom beading, providing a space where both Western and Indigenous concepts are honoured. The practicality of the project for a classroom setting will provide teachers a tangible way to interact with coding as well as focusing Indigenous content through beading. Marshall McLuhan’s (1964) theory that the “medium is the message” (p. 5) is connected to indigenous pedagogy; the medium here is the loom and process of beading. By working through and reflecting on the 8 beading foci and needle and thread teachings, students and teachers can relate them to the provincial curriculum core competencies. Participants will be using the digital and material aspects of culture to join the conversation of reconciliation.