What started as a summer craft project for a struggling college student became a lifelong passion. Cheri Alstrom turned beading into a side hustle, as well as inspiration for a new book.
Cheri Alstrom was born in St. Mary’s, a small Yup’ik village on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. After graduating from high school, she attended University of Alaska Fairbanks. There, she met her friend and teacher, Gracelyn.
“It was summertime and we didn't know what to do, so she taught me how to bead at UAF, ” Alstrom said.
Throughout her college career, Alstrom sold handmade beaded earrings to get by. She said the craft was intrinsic to her.
“Beading is instrumental to our culture. We have designs on our clothing articles, and our art,” Alstrom said.
After college, Alstrom started working at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. She said one of the managers there recognized her skills in the craft.
“He saw me beading, and he asked me if I wanted to teach a beading workshop. So I started making step by step instructions,” Alstrom explained.
She said for her, the highlight of the workshops was sharing the joy of beading with her participants.
“I've even had the guys come into my workshop and learn how to bead, and they successfully beaded an earring,” she said. “Every time they beaded an earring, or finished a pair, it made me so happy that they're really happy.”
But Alstrom said she could only be in so many places at a time, and she wanted to share her craft with even more people. So, she started making an instructional manual that catered to a wide audience.
“Anybody who's interested in learning how to bead, ranging from kids, all the way to adults. All ages and backgrounds, diversities, everything,” Alstrom said.
She still has a lot more up her sleeve. Alstrom said that she’s already ideating further book releases that will feature even more beaded Yup’ik designs and traditional crafts.
“I was thinking of snowflakes, I even know how to make dream catchers,” Alstrom said. “I came up with a pattern on my own to make dream catchers, and uluaqs.”
Upon release on May 14, Alstrom sent copies to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She also sent copies to her former high school in Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe, St. Mary’s Native Corporation and to her tribe, the Yupiit of Andreafski.
Her book, “Instructional Guide to Beading for Beginners” is available online on Alstrom’s Facebook page, Alaska Bead Company and Alaska Fur Exchange in Anchorage and Fairbanks Craft Market and Alaska Raw Fur in Fairbanks.
