Indigenous people have a long, rich history of generosity. Personally, I have something to offer Bono

By Sonya Ballantyne

A Bono beaded medallion that Sonya Ballantyne hopes to give to him personally. Created by Stevi Riley.  Source: Sonya Ballantyne. 

I am a massive U2 fan, and I made it my goal to meet the band in 2011. I had just missed meeting them in Sydney, Australia. I had a bracelet I wanted to give Bono, U2’s lead singer. It was a rubber bracelet like those popularized in the aughts, but I wanted to give one featuring the colours of the medicine wheel. 

Today, Indigenous beaders and artists are increasingly gifting their artwork to famous people.

Ice Cube live in Metro City Concert Club. Source: Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. 

A prime example is Tahltan artist Carmen Dennis, who created a striking beaded medallion for Ice Cube that made its way onto the stage and around the rapper’s neck during his CBC-featured Canadian tour. The rapper wore it for the rest of the set.  He later thanked Carmen Dennis on social media. 

Emma Memma, children’s entertainer and former member of The Wiggles, was gifted a yellow and black ribbon skirt by then three-year-old Cree fan RJ Tootoosis and RJ’s mom, Andrea Landry. 

Lily Kahneráhti:io Dailleboust and Rihanna on a recent Air Canada flight from Toronto to Montreal after the flight attendant gifted the singer/songwriter a beaded lanyard. Source:  Lily Kahnerahtiio Dailleboust

Recently, global icon Rihanna was presented with a handmade beaded lanyard by Lily Kahnerahtiio Dailleboust, a Kanien’kehá flight attendant. During their viral interaction, Rihanna told the flight attendant that Lily was the first Kanien’kehá person Rihanna had ever met. 

Indigenous gifts to public figures are not new; ceremonial headdresses, for instance, have long been presented to the Popes, politicians, and heads of state.

Bono playing his on-stage character "The Fly" during U2's show in Cleveland, OH on March 26, 1992 on their Zoo TV Tour. Source: Steve Kalinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I did meet Bono that day in 2011, but in the hazy dream of meeting him, I forgot about the bracelet until I was back in the car on the way home. 

In July 2026, I will be performing in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival with my piece “How Bono Saved My Life (Three Times)”. A major prop in the show is my heart-shaped beaded medallion with Bono’s sunglassed face in the middle, made by my good friend Stevi Riley.

Sonya’s packed suitcase with the Bono medallion. Source: Facebook

Here’s hoping Bono somehow shows up at one of these shows so I can give him that medallion so he and Ice Cube can show off at events. 

Sonya Ballantyne (She/They) is a Swampy Cree writer and filmmaker originally from Misipawistik Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba. Her work focuses on non-traditional genres such as horror, sci-fi, and fantasy and focuses on Indigenous women and girls.