When Caroline Sullivan guides nylon thread through tiny beads, every brick or peyote stitch brings her closer to her Native American heritage.
The 3,000 miles between her home and her Maine tribe, the Passamaquoddy, once made the San Diego State University student feel disconnected from her culture.
But in just three years, Sullivan, a third-year social work major and American Indian Studies minor from San Francisco, has mastered the art of Native American beadwork, a tradition dating back thousands of years across all Indigenous tribes. She hosted two beading events at the SDSU Native Resource Center as part of Native American Heritage Month, and her work will be featured in an exhibit at the Museum of Beadwork in Portland, Maine.
“Beading has helped me connect to my culture and it’s how I have learned a lot of my traditions,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan made summer visits to her family in Maine, but wanted a stronger connection to her heritage.
In 2021, however, her older sister interned with the Bangor-based Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness. Seeing how transformative the opportunity was for her sister, Sullivan was motivated to become fully immersed in her heritage.
“My sister really got into the cultural side because of the internship, and I saw that and I wanted to do that too,” Sullivan said. “The next summer, they did a pilot internship program for high school students, so I went back to Maine with her and I was selected.”
It was while interning with the organization that provides health care and social services for the Passamaquoddy tribe and three other Maine tribes that Sullivan discovered beading.
Commencement tradition
Sullivan said she had seen Native students adorn their graduation caps with traditional Native American beadwork, and she wanted to do likewise. So, when the opportunity presented itself during the internship, she jumped right in.
“My goal that summer was to bead my grad cap for my senior year,” she said. “But beading became more than just that project.”
It taught her patience, the power of deliberate actions and attention to detail — and became the bridge to her culture.
That first summer internship wasn’t easy, Sullivan said. They did a youth overnight trip where they taught beading, held a sunrise ceremony, went to a sweat lodge and conducted a talking circle.
“The imposter syndrome was through the roof,” Sullivan said. “During the talking circle, I lost it, I felt so out of place. I was 17 at the time and the youngest staff person, closer to the age of the youth who went on the trip.
“But it was then I realized that all the youth, even the ones who grew up and lived on community, felt the same way.
Sullivan emerged from that summer with a desire to continue to build that bridge to her culture. She said she beads daily, oftentimes while listening to a podcast hosted by her aunt and the Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness Team.
She did two additional internships with Wabanaki. This summer, she and seven other artists curated the museum beading exhibit that opens Jan. 11.
Campus resources
At SDSU, Sullivan has become a fixture in the Native community as she continues to explore her native American culture and community through on-campus Native resources. As a first-year student, she got involved with the Elymash Yuuchaap program and the Native Resource Center, part of the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, and returned to the center this year as a program assistant.
“My experience at the NRC has been amazing. I absolutely love the environment of the center and everyone involved,” she said. “As a freshman it was hard to feel like I belonged somewhere so far away from home, but the Elymash Yuuchaap program made me feel like I had a little family in San Diego.
“After I spent a lot of time off campus my sophomore year, I realized how much I missed it, and came back this year, and I realize just how important it is to me,” Sullivan said.
Aerin Scalco, the center’s assistant coordinator, praised Sullivan, calling her a “bright light.”
“Caroline really is the epitome of what we look for in program assistants,” Scalco said. “She takes on tasks, leads events when we need her; she’s always down to lead a tour or volunteer at any events. I think it ties back into the Native values that she’s talked about. It’s just a community within the center, and she helps to establish that community for us.”
Sullivan said she wants to move to Maine and become a social worker after she graduates, possibly working with Native youth.
“After my first internship, I realized just how many kids need help and a support system, someone to listen to what they have to say,” she said. “I’m not sure if I want to do tribal (counseling) or correctional (probation counseling), but I want to work with youth, no matter what. I want to be that person for somebody.”