The Ah-Day chair was the first collaboration between the Indigenous bead artist Teri Greeves (Kiowa) and her husband, the furniture designer and woodworker Dennis Esquivel (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa). Greeves and Esquivel created the chair in 2002, in honor of their first-born child, a son named Ahbedoh White Eagle. The chair’s title refers to his place as an ah-day, a favored child within a Kiowa family who receives all they desire, even at the expense of other family members. While the custom could seem unfair, Greeves believes the practice is related to the fragility of life and distress caused by colonization, because an ah-day child might have the greatest chance of survival. In this context, a favored child represents hope and family legacy for the Kiowa. Greeves possesses a deep understanding of Native art forms, particularly beadwork. Her mother owned a trading post on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming among the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho nations. As a child, Greeves saw many examples of expert craftwork and was drawn to a variety of tribal beadwork customs. The chair’s design and materials honor the traditions, craft, and industry of Kiowa women and reflect Esquivel’s ties to the woodworking traditions of his region of the Great Lakes of North America. The shape of the frame is inspired by the form of hourglass-shaped bags Kiowa women traditionally wear on their belts. The chair back refers to Kiowa cradleboard designs. The colorful panels set into the seat and back are composed of minute glass beads stitched onto deer hide by Greeves. The strong geometric shapes were inspired by the traditional abstract designs painted on parfleches (rawhide containers) by Kiowa women.