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Fetishes - Objects with Magic Properties
The Beauty of Turquoise
North American Plains Indian Beadwork
The Photography of Edward Sheriff Curtis
Collecting Indian Jewellery
Regional Style Navajo Rugs
North American Plains Indian Beadwork
Interest in aspects of native North American peoples' lives and culture has never been as strong. Many of the leading art museums in the United States have presented major exhibitions of Plains Indian material, sparking an increased response for rigorous standards of dissemination of information and knowledge.
The material culture of the Plains Indian conjures up images of proud regal chiefs and warriors on horseback adorned in decorative quilled and beaded garb. This finery has been recorded in literature, seen on film or viewed in museums; surely questions as to their origin should arise. What is it? Who made it? What materials and designs were used? What was its purpose?
This article addresses, albeit briefly, these questions with a particular focus on beaded articles produced in the Plains cultural regions. The intention is to raise awareness of the collectability of these objects.
Rare fully beaded doctor's bag circa 1875 and Northern Plains beaded knife sheath with original knife circa 1880
Before 1850 there was little effort to collect or preserve examples of Plains Indian material culture. No museum in the US or Canada could comprehensively mount a show of pre-1850 material drawn from objects held in their collections. The scarcity of items is a legacy of the Indians' lifestyle. They did not store or preserve worn out objects, simply discarding them. The specimens that have survived from the early period were collected mainly by European artists, explorers and travellers, and so, much of this material is found in European museums.
Early beadwork on animal skin - buffalo, deer, elk, moose or domestic cattle - was simple in design and restricted in colour. From about 1800 to 1840, a large irregular shaped china bead was used the Plains people. These beads were made in Venice and were of various sizes - the average being 3mm (1/8 inch) in diameter. The beads were either plain or multicoloured and came to be called "pony beads" because they were delivered by pony pack trains.
Smaller glass seed beads, although in use much earlier on, began to appear in quantity in about 1840. They largely replaced pony beads for embroidery work. These beads were not uniform in size - they were approximately 2mm (1/16 inch) in diameter - were generally of a soft hue and each colour batch was a different tone.
Around 1800, beads for the Indian trade were being produced in Bohemia, although on the earlier pieces Venetian beads were used. France, Germany and Holland made beads in limited numbers and then the Japanese also began producing beads.
Venetian beads are larger than Bohemian, more even in colour and shape, and stronger in hue. The primary colours used were white, black red and blue. Used more sparingly were yellow, orange, pink, dark and clear green and light blue.
In the second half on the 19th century, Teton Dakota (central Plains Sioux) preferred seed beads in red, blue, yellow, white and green even though numerous other colours were available.
The Crows, further north, sometimes combined up to 12 to 14 different shades on one piece. Santee Dakota (mid eastern Plains Sioux), Kiowa (southern Plains) and Cheyenne (mid western Plains) preferred the smallest seed bead, often with one or two sides cut so that they would sparkle in the sun.
Traders were enterprising businessmen and undoubtedly attempted to provide whatever bead colours were in demand. Colourful beads may have been trinkets to the European, but to the Plainsmen they were desirable as a public sign of a warrior's prestige. The nomadic Plainsmen enjoyed displaying their wealth through ornamentation having little desire to build up a burden of non-transportable goods.
Pony bead designs
1780 - 1840
At first, pony beads were not plentiful and were often used in conjunction with the older, traditional art of quillwork, to decorate leggings, shirts, headbands of feather headdresses, bottom areas of pipe bags, moccasins, bodices of north Plains women's dresses and the edge of saddle blankets. A few basic design forms were repeated in pony beads throughout the Plains. Geometric elements such as the rectangle, triangle and bar were arranged in various combinations forming sawtooth bands, crosses (representing the four cardinal directions of the earth, popular in central Plains region culture) and chequer patterns.
It appears that early geometric designs followed those used in quill-work and other early hand-crafted media. This continued to be the main decorative expression until the 1830s, when the transition became obvious.
Early seed bead designs
1840-1870
Seed beads began to replace pony beads about 1840 and new designs were evident. The most common were circles, solid coloured isosceles triangles, K-shapes and terraced figures. Decorated pieces included blanket strips, a little more coverage on leggings, pipe bags, cradles and saddle bags, with the majority of work remaining in narrow bands.
Despite the change to smaller beads, designs remained remarkably consistent during the next 30 years, and a generalised Plains geometric style could be recognised.
The period from 1850-1900 saw an incredible growth of Plains art. The participation in fur trading with traders enabled Indians to acquire a wealth of material goods. The acquisition of trade items also made for a rich variety of artistic expression and stimulated greater production.
Beadwork became the primary decorating method, ahead of quillwork, and possessed a new beauty and drama. Lavishly decorated items were made for friends and visitors. In some areas, economic conditions fostered the manufacture of objects for sale to dealers, tourists and collectors.
Later seed bead designs
1870-present
After the Civil War, an influx of settlers arrived onto the Plains bringing with them new influences and materials that affected the lives of the native inhabitants. Around this time designs changed dramatically, becoming more intricate and varied. However, the initial simple design units were kept alive and reused. Regional styles developed so that differences in tribal decoration became even more striking.
The evolution of distinctive tribal art styles in which the inhabitants of each area developed a common preference for bead size and colour led to an abundance of certain types in one place and none in another. An example of this is the wide popularity of Sioux tobacco bags made during this time. Given as gifts or traded for horses or other items, they almost completely replaced tobacco bags made by other tribes. Yet, while Sioux tobacco bags are relatively common, beaded gun cases from this tribe are not. This is the reverse with Crow work. Their beautiful gun cases were highly sought after, but the Crow tobacco bag is a scarce item.
The predominant regions of Indian beadwork are the northern, central and southern Plains. Although variations between tribes within these regions do exist, influences diffused identifiable stylistic characteristics across the borders. Awareness of each other's arts and crafts was due to several factors: intensive trading, intermarriage, the capture of people and objects in warfare, and the imitation of designs and techniques when living among each other.
The most successful design innovation of this time was the floral motif introduced to the Plains by the Cree and Ojibwa tribes, who originally came from the far north (Canada) and settled with the Sioux tribes in the mid eastern Plains. No other design caught on so successfully.
The northern region style found among Blackfoot, Crow, Assiniboin, Gros Ventre and Yanktonia Dakota tribes were geometric in form. They most commonly executed chequerboard motifs in squares and triangles with fully beaded backgrounds in yellow, light blue, red and sometimes white. The Blackfoot were the leaders of this style.
The central Plains styles produced by the Teton and Yanktonia Dakota (Sioux), the Cheyenne and Arapaho consisted of large areas covered with backgrounds in white or blue beads and figures in blue, green, red, yellow and white.
Simple geometric designs common to early seed bead work still featured. Technical precision varied between tribes. The advanced technique of the Cheyenne and care with which colour and design was chosen resulted in a reputation for being the finest among Plains bead workers.
Around 1885, subjects chosen from life became popular beading themes for men's jackets, vests and pipe bags. Male figures in war bonnets, horses and the American flag were most often portrayed. Outside influences account for designs which were beaded to order for non-Indian patrons. In addition, confinement to reservations had women seeking crafts to occupy them. This resulted in the most prolific period of moccasins, boys' breeches, yokes of women's dresses, vests, saddle bags, tobacco bags/pouches, storage bags and baby carriers.
Beadwork reached a high point during the years 1880-1905 after which interest declined, although certain articles, especially pipe bags, moccasins, belts and small bags continued to be beaded.
The southern Plains styles of the Kiowa, Comanche, southern Cheyenne, southern Arapaho and Pawnee and south western Ute and Jicarilla Apache Plains tribes did not regard beadwork as their major form of decoration. They were south of the area inhabited by porcupines and therefore had no quillwork from which to base their beadwork on. Rather, they combined narrow edgings and light trims using seed beads (with cut sides), paint and fine skin fringes and metal cones to decorate their clothing and possessions. These were mostly legging strips, women's capes, netted collars and fringed bags done in simple geometrics and continual lines. The colours used were dark blue with red and yellow on a white background.
The Apache were one of the few tribes to frequently use black beads, usually without background beading. The Kiowa developed an abstract form of the floral design incorporating styles from neighbouring regions. They are known for their fully beaded cradles.
The aesthetic beadwork tradition of the Plains people has evolved from the simple to the complex, with their techniques and designs adapting to new materials, tastes and influences. Since prehistoric times, the resourceful Native American has manipulated diverse media to produce many beautiful objects. The unique material culture is one to be preserved and exhibited in private collections and museums so that documentation of Plains art can be continued.
References
Barbara A Hail, Hau, Kóla!, The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, 1983.
Richard A Pohrt, "Tribal Identification of Northern Plains Beadwork" in American Indian Art Magazine, 1989.
Lanford L Benson "Origins of Central Plains Beadwork" in American Indian Art Magazine, 1990.
