Interview with Pam Talbott

Karenne Wood, director of the Virginia Indian Program at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, interviews Pam Talbott, a member of the Monacan Indian Nation, at the Monacan Tribal Center in Amherst County.

Talbott: I do beadwork. I got involved actually just about a year and a half ago—it started with this trip to England, and I needed to make my own regalia. So I went to George Whitewolf, and that is who taught me. First he started out by teaching me a lazy stitch, which is very basic. So then I wanted to get a little bit more creative, because I wanted butterflies on my dress, so I started doing appliqué beading. I use a 13-inch bead, which is a very small seed bead. The larger the number, the smaller the bead. At this point in time, I am still working on my regalia. I did butterflies going down the back of my dress, which is the trailer. I’ve also started beading for my son’s regalia—I’ve made him a bear, for Bear Mountain, that will go on his breechcloth. I’ve also sold some of my pieces. I feel this is important to me because I don’t want the tradition to die out. I’m teaching my kids to bead, and hopefully someday they can teach their kids to bead.

Wood: Is there anything that you’d like to learn in beadworking that you haven’t already accomplished?

Talbott: I would like to learn the original way, which was by using clay beads. They also used wampum shell, and I would like to go back to some of that, and learn the process, so that we will know the exact original way besides just being able to go out and buy the beads now.