Indigenous beadwork has taken the art world by storm, but it is still sometimes misunderstood as static, anthropological artifact. Today's prairie artists defy this categorization, demonstrating how beads tell stories and reclaim cultural identity. Whether artists seek out in-person gatherings or share techniques through YouTube videos, beading fosters traditional methods of teaching and learning and enables intergenerational transmissions of pattern and skill. In Bead Talk, editors Carmen Robertson, Judy Anderson, and Katherine Boyer gather conversations, interviews, essays, and colour photographs of beadwork from expert and emerging artists, academics, and curators. Contributors pose and respond to philosophical questions about beading on the prairies and illustrate the importance of beading in contemporary Indigenous arts. Showcasing beaded tumplines, text, masks, regalia, and more. Bead Talk invites us all into the beading circle.