A Manitoba resident is garnering international attention after her artwork was shown on national television.
Mish Daniels, a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation, makes and sells beaded medallions at different powwows around the Selkirk area.
She recently sold one to a friend of hers named Connie Greyeyes, who lives in Fort St. John, B.C. She had ordered a jingle dress medallion to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Greyeyes was an organizer of a recent conference in Vancouver, where a chance encounter with Hollywood icon Whoopi Goldberg happened.
Goldberg was attending a separate conference at the same hotel as the conference that Greyeyes was attending, where she was drawn by the smell of a smudging ceremony.
When Goldberg and Greyeyes met, they talked about the MMIWG cause, which Goldberg is an advocate of in the U.S. During the conversation, Goldberg was fascinated by the medallion that Greyeyes was wearing, resulting in Greyeyes giving Whoopi the medallion.
Daniels says that in Ojibway culture if someone admires something you own a lot, you gift it to them.
Daniels said that upon receiving the medallion, Goldberg told Greyeyes that she would wear it every day.
Goldberg kept her word and wore it on The View on Monday, as well as yesterday morning.
Daniels says that she was blown away that a celebrity like that would wear her artwork.
“I can’t believe that’s my work, it’s like winning Lotto 649 or something,” exclaimed Daniels. “I recorded it, and watch it over and over, my eyes mist over. I just can’t believe beading did this, it’s crazy.”
Daniels added that her phone has been going off non-stop since the airing of the show, and orders are flying in.
The best part of the attention to Daniels is the fact that it is bringing awareness to the MMIWG cause.
“It doesn’t matter what colour you are, people go missing and are murdered everywhere in North America. It’s the families, and supporting each other as human beings,” said Daniels.
Daniels says that she is swamped with orders for medallions, but vows to fulfill every request.
