Fire Carrier's Footsteps Summary

Berry also uses the mythos of the Cherokee culture in her Fire Carrier's Footsteps – Moccasins. These moccasins feature white, red, and blue beading on a black bead background on the vamp and the flaps. Each area of beading is surrounded by red silk satin ribbon and blue rickrack. The vamp features a black spider with a red and black mid section. The legs of the spider have blue and white swirls around them to show movement. The flaps feature white circles with the red and black equilateral cross, a pre-Columbian sun symbol. This spider represents the story of fire bringing for the Cherokee culture. After lightening hit a tree on an island, many animals tried to retrieve an ember or a spark to light the first flame. However, many animals failed including the raven, the owl, and the serpent. Finally, the spider was able to climb through a tree to retrieve an ember and carry
Wind River Reservation was not a Kiowa reservation, rather that of the Shoshone and Cheyenne. As a result, Greeves spent her time surrounded by the work of other tribes and learned a verity of cosmologies and cultures in addition to her Kiowa heritage. She grew up in her mother’s trading post, crawling around beadwork and other native art. She began learning beadwork at eight with the help of her aunties, Shoshone and Cheyenne women from the reservation. As a result, Greeves works with many different types of beading to create her art. Over the course of her studies, she attended UC Santa Cruz where she received a Bachelors of Arts in American Studies, St. John’s College and Cabrillo College. She now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her family, including her sons. Throughout her career as an artist, she has won numerous awards and honors, including at the Santa Fe Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ show. In addition to creating beadwork, Greeves contributes to first American Art Magazine