103rd Annual SWAIA Indian Market Second Place Beadwork

Toghoyak SWAIA 2025 for recognizing my work in traditional Northern Ute belt bags. This year I chose to bead a floral motif entitled "Aka'sōō'a pů" meaning Red Flowering Bush in Uncompaghre Ute. This flower is Native to the high rockies and has various medicinal purposes for the Ute People. I made this bag to recognize my Nuuciu, our language, and our original territory of the Colorado Mountains.

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About Eian Sundust

Eian Sundust is an American Indian that comes from the San Carlos Apache, Northern Ute, and Shoshone Nations. Growing up he participated in Pow-wows - by doing so, he had to learn to create and care for his own regelia. He specializes in using the two needle method of embroidered beadwork - as well as using strictly watercolor for a majority of his paintings to enhance his craft to make each piece unique to his own. using the highest quality of brain tanned hides for the base of all products to ensure a lifelong heirloom piece to be passed on for generations. Eian Sundust has had his work showcased in the Amazon Prime's Outer Range for season 2, where he was a lead designer and cultural consultant. Sundust has also had his work shown at Shiprock Gallery in Santa Fe New Mexico.

MISSION STATEMENT

Eian Sundust is a maker-led brand presenting handmade Indigenous beadwork and leather goods alongside fine art. The artist produces two-needle embroidered beadwork on brain-tanned and smoked buckskin, creating items such as moccasins, beaded bags, earrings, and tail/belt bags, and also produces watercolor works. The brand sells direct-to-consumer via a Shopify storefront, accepts custom commissions via email, is represented in galleries (Shiprock Santa Fe), participates in SWAIA / Santa Fe Indian Market, and provides cultural consulting and design services for media productions (credited on Outer Range Season 2). The site commits 20% of purchases to Indigenous education programs.