Elizabeth James-Perry was born in 1973.[1] She began studying this art form after learning about it from her mother, Patricia James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag, born 1944), who specializes in scrimshaw.[2][3] While traveling in Europe, she learned about colonists' mistaken belief that the paint on the Wampanoag clothing was, according to her, "fine lace on leather".[2] Her newfound knowledge about past Wampanoag artists inspired her to preserve traditional knowledge.[2]
As an artist, James-Perry specializes in wampum, natural dyeing, and textile art.[2][1] She hand carved and polishes wampum beads because she wants wearers to "get a sense of being involved in the story of the piece", thus supporting Native American culture.[2] Allison Hill described her work "as extraordinarily beautiful and exquisitely hand-crafted", also saying that it involves "weav[ing] historical research and familial knowledge [...] to reflect deep cultural and historical significance".[2]
The New Bedford Whaling Museum hosted "Ripples: Through a Wampanoag Lens" (2020–21), an exhibition of her wampum and scrimshaw work to highlight Wampanoag cultural continuity. [5][6] In 2021, James-Perry worked on Radiant Community, one of the two installations in "Garden for Boston", a collaboration with Ekua Holmes outside the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Paige Curtis described Radiant Community, in which the Cyrus Edwin Dallin statue Appeal to the Great Spirit is surrounded by corn, beans, and sedge grass in reference to the Three Sisters of Indigenous agriculture, "as a counterproposal to [the statue], asserting the beauty of a neighboring community now facing rampant gentrification."[7] She also worked as an artist-in-residence and teacher at Amherst College from 2021 until 2022.[8]
James-Perry has a degree in marine science from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and also works on ecological restoration projects, including the reintroduction of native plant life and participation in consultation processes.[2] She had previously worked as a tribal preservation officer, an experience that inspired her "deeper appreciation for tribal territories and tribal waters".[2]
