![]() American Indian beads were a common trade item across the Americas for centuries, so it is not surprising to see abalone shells from the West Coast in Cherokee beadwork or quahog wampum from the East Coast in Chippewa beadwork. Still flourishing today, beadwork traditions throughout North America include the sinuous floral style of the Eastern Woodland tribes, the geometric style of the Plains Indians, the dentalium strands of the West Coast tribes, heishi bead necklaces of the Southwest tribes and more. There are as many different Native American beading traditions, designs, styles and stitches as there are tribes and nations. Nations often overlapped geographically and influenced the evolving creative beading process. Strung on leather or woven into belts and other objects with sinew thread, wampum was sometimes worn as decoration, but developed a far greater significance as currency and for commemorating ceremonial events.įrom prehistoric times, a widespread trade network existed across the Americas. The best-known shell bead was a small, center-drilled white and purple bead made from the quahog clamshell and commonly known as wampum among Eastern Woodlands tribes, such as the Iroquois. And, until the introduction of glass and seed beads, shell beads were esteemed above all others. The focus was on the vow, the thoughts and prayers behind the work, not on the thing.īeads made from river-grown freshwater pearls were also popular among North American people before the arrival of Europeans. Sacred quillwork was undertaken as a vow to fulfill a prayer for someone or something. Quilling societies within tribes were established to sponsor and tutor women for membership. Several native cultures considered quillwork a sacred task. It is an intricate process of stitching or embroidering dyed, hollow quills of porcupines onto hide in detailed patterns. ![]() Quillwork is an art form unique to Native Americans and was the prototype for woven and embroidered beadwork. Thousands of years before Europeans stepped onto North American soil, native people were carving, wearing and trading beads made of shell, pearl, animal claws, wood, seeds, bone, porcupine quills, clay and more.
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