Hello! My name is Ame Mañon

I am Mazahua and Nahua on my father’s side and Osage and Irish on my mother’s side. I grew up in the Indigenous communities and ceremonial circles of Oregon, and my second homes are with my families in Mexico and Montana.

Growing up, I watched my parents and aunties bead and sew. When my father first came to the states, he sold his jewelry made with semi-precious stones, metalwork, and beadwork. I began my beading journey in 2018 when my dad saw me working on a beading project and said “Oh, are you worried you’ll run out of beads? Come with me…” and gifted me his seed bead collection. I slowly learned from my parents, aunties, cousins, and friends and began to develop my own style of beadwork. After many years of late nights, broken needles, mistakes and successes - here I am today!

I was taught that any cultural skill is also a responsibility to your community. Beading designs are gifted to me, so I must give something back. In addition to selling beadwork, it is important to me that I regularly donate to organizations, gift my work, use art as activism, and teach others what I know.

When I am not beading, I am working as a cultural ecologist leading a land stewardship project. My days are always different - working with first foods and cultural fire, or surveying creeks and meadows!