Native American beads and beadwork
Native American beads and beadwork represent a rich artistic tradition that predates European contact. Traditionally, beads were crafted from natural materials such as shell, stone, bone, and seeds, and were used to create various decorative items including necklaces, clothing ornaments, and ceremonial objects. With the introduction of European glass beads in the 18th century, Native American beadwork evolved, incorporating new colors and styles, such as the large "pony bead" and later the smaller "seed bead," which allowed for more intricate designs.
Beadwork varies significantly across different cultural areas, reflecting the distinct identities and artistic expressions of various tribes. For example, the Plains tribes are known for their complex patterns, while the beadwork of the Southeastern tribes often exhibits floral motifs. Design elements can carry both decorative and symbolic meanings, and methods of bead application include embroidery and weaving techniques, such as the spot and lazy stitches. The evolution of beadwork continues into the 20th century, with a commercial aspect emerging alongside traditional practices. Overall, Native American beadwork is not only an aesthetic endeavor but also a cultural expression that embodies the history and identity of Indigenous peoples.
Native American beads and beadwork
Tribes affected: Pantribal
Significance: Beadwork is one of the most distinctive decorative techniques used among Native Americans for clothing and other objects of personal and ritual use
Beadwork was a popular decorative technique before the arrival of the Europeans, and beads were traditionally made of shell, stone, bone, teeth, hoofs, and seeds. These were used to make necklaces, pendants, fringes, belts, and ornaments on clothing. Native American quillwork, a related decorative technique, was used in a similar way. Today beads and beadwork normally refer to the glass beads of European origin.
Historical Background
Although glass beads were traded with Native Americans during the eighteenth century, little is known about beadwork from that time. The production of traditional beads was difficult and slow, since each one had to be shaped by hand and then hand drilled. The imported glass beads were preferred because of their color and reflectiveness. About 1800 a large-sized bead made in Venice became available, and beaded artifacts using this type of bead represent the oldest examples of beadwork in collections today. This bead was referred to as the “pony bead” because it was brought by traders on pony pack teams. These beads were one-eighth inch in diameter, and they came in white, sky blue, dark blue, light red, dark red, and beige. They were used to make bands of decoration for clothing, bags, cradles, and moccasins.
About 1840 the smaller “seed bead” that is used today became available; it, too, was made of Venetian glass. It was half the size of the earlier beads and permitted making more delicate designs. Since these beads were partly made by hand, they could be slightly irregular in size and shape. In the 1840’s and 1850’s they were used to make bands of decoration similar to those made with pony beads.
By 1860 beads were more commonly available, and their smaller size permitted the introduction of a new all-over pattern of beadwork. Indians beaded clothing, bags, horse trappings, and ceremonial objects, among other things. During this period Czechoslovakian (Bohemian) glass beads were introduced; they are darker and more bluish. By 1870 translucent beads had become available, and by the mid-1880’s silver- and gold-colored beads were traded. French and British manufacturers also entered the trade, and a wide variety of colors and sizes were available. In the twentieth century the production of beadwork became much more commercialized. Japanese beads entered the market, as did inexpensive Japanese and Chinese reproductions of Native American designs.
Culture Areas
Beadwork has been done in most culture areas. The French fur traders introduced trade beads to the tribes of the Northeast Woodlands in the seventeenth century. The beadwork that was to become distinctive of this area displayed the foliate patterns of the Algonquian (Potawatomi, Sauk and Fox, Kickapoo) and Chippewa groups of the western Great Lakes region. The beadwork of the southeastern tribes (especially Creek and Seminole) is related to the floral patterns of the Northeast but is less ordered and symmetrical than that of the north. Plains beadwork has the most complex, detailed patterns, some made with thousands of beads. There is a division between the northern Plains style, which tends to be conservative, and the bolder, more individualized Southern Plains style. Beadwork in the Southwest cultural area, Great Basin cultural area, and Plateau cultural area is usually done by tribes that have had contact with the Plains groups and have borrowed designs from them. In these latter three areas, beading tends to be limited to small-scale work.
Designs
Both geometric and floral designs are given names by the people who use them, and within each culture there is a repertoire of recognized design elements and full design patterns. The fact that the designs were given names has led many students of design to assume they also had symbolic significance. It seems, however, that a given design motif may have been used with a decorative intent by some beadworkers and with symbolic intent by others. Some foliate designs of the western Great Lakes region seem to have represented local flora, perhaps some used for medicinal purposes. Others may have been copied from print designs on manufactured cloth or the designs of vestments of priests. The geometric motifs of the Plains have names that refer to the natural world, such as eye, buffalo, wolves, eagle, turtle, butterfly, centipede, person, and buffalo track.
Techniques
Beads may be embroidered onto a cloth or skin backing, woven to form a beaded band independent of the backing, or attached to fringes. Two basic embroidery stitches are used, the spot stitch and the lazy stitch. The spot, or overlay, stitch means that a beaded thread is attached to the backing by a second thread sewn in an over-and-under stitching pattern. In finely sewn work the overlapping stitch which holds the beaded thread to the backing may come every second, third, or fourth bead. This is especially used with floral designs and curving lines among the Chippewa, Algonquian language family, and some northern Plains groups.
In contrast, the lazy stitch is used more for overall designs that include straight lines and geometric patterns, and it is used more by the Western Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, and Kiowa. In this stitching pattern, the thread that carries the beads is itself stitched into the backing, with five or six beads added to the thread between each stitch.
Bead weaving is used to make headbands, armbands, legbands, or belts that do not have backing material. Band weaving is easier and faster than the stitching techniques, but it requires a weaving frame. The warp, or base threads, are wrapped onto the frame, and the weft with beads is woven into it. This technique lends itself best to straight-line geometric shapes; floral designs must be stylized to adapt to it.
Bibliography
Coe, Ralph T. Sacred Circles: Two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art. Kansas City, Mo.: Nelson Gallery Foundation, 1977.
Furst, Peter T., and Jill L. Furst. North American Indian Art. New York: Rizzoli International, 1982.
Lyford, Carrie. Quill and Beadwork of the Western Sioux. Edited by Willard W. Beatty. Boulder, Colo.: Johnson, 1979.
Penney, David W. Art of the American Indian Frontier. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992.
Whiteford, Andrew Hunter. “The Origins of Great Lakes Beaded Bandolier Bags.” American Indian Art Magazine 2, no. 3 (1986): 32-43.