Choctaw Beadwork with Sally Wells

A revered elder in Tennessee’s Choctaw community, Sally Wells is recognized as a master beadworker and speaker of the Choctaw language. Since retiring from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service, Sally has devoted herself to her beadwork and to passing it down to future generations

In 2015, she was one of the first master artists chosen to teach in the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, which is an initiative created to help preserve rare and endangered art forms. Through this apprentice program, she taught Choctaw beadwork to her granddaughter using seed and bugle beads.

In 2019, she was presented with the Tennessee Governor's Arts Award in recognition of her work. That same year, she was chosen as an artist in residence at the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga, where she provided hands-on demonstrations to Museum guests. She has also instructed beadwork at multiple schools as well as the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where she serves as Artist in Residence.

Sally Wells is also a founding member of the Native American Indian Association (NAIA) and serves as coordinator for the Arts & Crafts Demonstrators at their annual Tennessee Indian Education Pow Wow, which she has helped to make one of the finest in the country.

She resides in Smyrna, Tennessee with her husband Bill.

To learn more about the NAIA and their annual Pow Wow held each October at Longhunter State Park, visit https://www.naiatn.org #choctaw #beads