More Than An Artist A Tuscarora Woman's Story by Sue Wilson (Tuscarora Deer-Clan) Joseph Jacobs Museum

Among the many Iroquois artists practicing beadwork, there is one woman who represents the Tuscarora bead workers especially well. Her name is Penny Hudson, a member of the Tuscarora Turtle Clan. She has given the art of bead working much more acknowledgement than just a craft to admire. Each piece she creates forges a picture of her Native people's individual identity, going beyond its sheer physical beauty, which is in itself stunning. She comes from a noteworthy line of Tuscarora women that taught her the art of bead working. They were strong and knowledgeable women amongst their people. Her late grandmother, mother, aunt and presently her sister, have all been highly active in Tuscarora politics. Each held the position of Turtle Clan Mother, an honorable position chosen by the people of that clan. All have served as teachers to Hudson instructing her in traditional ways which enabled her to represent the Tuscarora so well through the art of her beadwork.

Hudson began sewing with beads at a very young age alongside these talented women. Her themes would consist of many different shapes, symbols and colors of past concepts while introducing contemporary ideas. Her young, yet thriving knowledge of the art and its techniques would prove beneficial to her family's finances. With every threaded line of colored beads weaving in and out of velvet, she created a wide range of artifacts. Items included jewelry, clothing articles, functional pieces like pin cushions and picture frames to name a few. The list is endless, as she sets no limitations.

As a youth Penny accompanied her mother who taught beadwork classes at the Tuscarora Indian Nation School. She herself would eventually become the beadwork teacher at the school for eleven years. It was the start of a journey that she would never cease as she became increasingly dedicated to the art. In time Penny became well known for her artistic ability and was invited to demonstrate at many other locations beyond the Nation. She has also received numerous personal and professional commissions.

Her persistence and dedication to bead working as a viable indigenous art form is important since the art of bead working itself has been under siege since the arrival of the European. This negative influence has threatened the very existence of Iroquois beadwork as an art.

form. Fortunately, dedicated Natives like Hudson have overcome the problems and learned to evolve and preserve this art form.

er ancestors had to struggle with the evolution of a type of bead used in their work which had not previously been seen as a material suitable for use in the creation of beadwork. The use of different types of beads would bring stylistic changes from Pre-contact to the time of Contact with the Europeans. This influence is reflected in the change of the Native's use of bone, clay, quill, shell, and stone beads to include the predominant use of the European beads made from ceramic and glass.

udson has also had to follow the evolution of ancient design concepts into contemporary ones for her beadwork. Not long ago, even in the days of her mother and grandmother, the beadwork that was created was far less innovative with both patterns and ideas compared to the work Hudson is currently creating. Today, there is no limit as to what an artist might create with beads, unleashing a flood of contemporary concepts. As a traditional Native woman working to advance the envelope of an ancient indigenous art form she has also struggled to compete in a market place infected with imitations that are made through mass production.

Furthermore, when doing so, Hudson does not merely sew the beads as a decorative art form alone, though she is recognized as having mastered the techniques and color schemes to create remarkable pieces. Each piece she creates has a significant role for her Iroquois people. They maintain cultural, social, economic, religious, spiritual and historical significance.

Her contributions have become timeless and priceless to her people as they contribute in so many ways. Each piece that she creates characterizes the Iroquois' identity, particularly her Tuscarora roots. Her style, one for which the Tuscarora are known, is called raised beadwork, giving the effect of a thick, high appearance. Penny Hudson has become more than an artist. As she combines the traditional with the modern, Hudson's role within the Nation is that of cultural consultant, for she records their very existence as a people.

Penny Hudson's pieces are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, Cleveland Museum, Castellani Art Museum and the Joseph Jacobs Museum. She has won several awards for her work, including many from the New York State Fair. Hudson’s beadwork is currently on exhibition at the Joseph Jacobs Museum, on the Tuscarora Nation. .