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Contributed by the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, Province of Nova Scotia
When the Royal Tour organizers requested traditional Mi'kmaq beadwork for a suit that her Majesty the Queen would wear during her recent tour to Nova Scotia, Genevieve Julian's name naturally came up.
Genevieve has done beadwork for decades, beginning with moccasins and traditional dress, and eventually beading the headdresses of Chiefs, "too many to keep count of", she chuckles. So when her grandson Gordon approached her with the request, she says she was not even nervous.
"It wasn't until we were finished that I realized, 'my goodness, this is for the Queen of England!'" The "we" includes her daughter Valerie, who learned to bead both from her mother and from experience in western Canada.
Genevieve and Valerie received the collars and cuffs of the Queen's dress and jacket, and set to work researching a design. They knew they wanted to work with the traditional Double Curve motif, as one of the best known and most traditional Mi'kmaq ornamental motifs. The Double Curve has been employed in many applications throughout Mi'kmaq history, even appearing in petroglyphs, so they spent some time determining the best approach for this special application.
Once they had determined the design, Valerie began work on drawings for the collars, which would then create a framework for the cuffs. They spent a day getting the drawings right. "Mom is fussy, which is great, so there were many approvals required," Valerie says with a smile.
Satisfied with their design and their drawings, the Millbrook mother and daughter began the beading, working six hours at a time, on three or four occasions over the next few weeks. They completed the work, as it turns out, on the Queen's birthday. The collars and cuffs were sent to England, and then the waiting began.
"It was like waiting for Christmas," says Valerie. Finally seeing the Queen wearing their beadwork was overwhelming for the Julians. Her Majesty wore the suit during her tour of the Mi'kmaq Cultural Village, and to the Celebration of Nova Scotia reception hosted by Premier Darrell Dexter.
"It almost made me cry. It was such an honour," says Valerie. "Not only to do the work, but also to do it with my mother. It's not every day you get to do something like that." "It was a privilege," says Genevieve.
Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visited Nova Scotia from June 28 to June 30, beginning their Royal Tour in Canada. They went on to visit the National Capital Region, Winnipeg, Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, departing Canada on July 6.
The tour of the Mi'kmaq cultur al village was at the request of the Royal Couple, and was a highlight of the Nova Scotian visit. The Royal Couple were greeted at the Common by Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy, Grand Keptin Andrew Denny and respected Mi'kmaq educator Sister Dorothy Moore.
The Mi'kmaq cultural village demonstrated traditional techniques for preparing moose hide, making baskets, and splint-making. There was a game of Waltes, a Mi'kmaq game played with dice, and a description of the importance of artifacts from the Debert archaeological site dating back 11,000 years. Mi'kmaq students presented the Royal Couple with two Mi'kmaq legends on the Northern Lights and the buffalo - depicted through digital animation.
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness also learned about the 400th anniversary celebrations of the baptism of Grand Chief Membertou. The cultural village program also featured the Se't A'newey Kina'matino'kuom Youth Choir from St. Anne's School in Conne River, NL which performed Weleyut (Amazing Grace).
