Ruth Modeste

Ruth Modeste is a beadwork artist from Ulukhaqtuuq, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, who is currently based in Fort Smith, NT. She creates jewellery under her brand, Amaamaga.

Modeste started making jewellery as a way to connect with her culture when she moved to Yellowknife, NT, at nine years old, and then to Fort Smith, NT, in 2016. “It was a way to learn more about different ways Inuit people did different crafts,” she says.[1]  She started learning beading through videos on YouTube as well as from family members. She focuses on creating traditional crafts with a modern twist—combining materials like sealskin with brightly coloured beads. Her earrings tend to be in cooler colour schemes and round in shape. “I like rich, gemstone-type colours like turquoise [and] teal,” she says. 

Modeste has expanded her jewellery-making practice to include sealskin, caribou hair and moosehide. Her caribou tufted fox pom-pom earrings are particularly eye-catching in their dramatic shape. Yellow beads form in an upside-down teardrop shape, with rich red detailing in the middle. The dangling grey fox pom-poms at the bottom enhance the shape and create texture. “I get inspiration from various things, like different landscapes, colour combinations. Sometimes it’s just seeing the beads or colours together.”  Modeste has many artist family members who she also is inspired by, particularly her mother—who in her spare time has created parkas, quilts, mittens and purses—and paternal grandmother, artist Elsie Klengenberg. 

In 2023, Modeste was a vendor at the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto, ON, and she regularly participates in local pop-up markets. In addition to creating and showcasing her work, Modeste also provides various workshops, teaching people various earring-making techniques and styles, tufting and dying. She hopes to continue teaching. In 2024, Modeste received funding to create parkas in the new year. Parka creation is a new skill for her that she’s excited to learn. “I look forward to the journey and lessons along the way.”