Beads and Beadwork of the American Indians

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

ILLUSTRATIONS 4

PLATES 4

FIGURES 6

DEDICATION 12

INTRODUCTION 13

SHELL BEADS 16

SHELL BEADS IN GENERAL 16

RUNTEES, OR SHELL DISCS 31

DISCOIDAL BEADS 34

PEARL BEADS 39

BONE BEADS 40

STONE BEADS 44

DRILLING 51

METAL BEADS 63

BEADS OF GOLD 63

BEADS OF SILVER 78

BEADS OF COPPER 81

WAMPUM 85

WAMPUM-MAKING TOOLS 98

ODD FORMS AND MATERIALS 102

TRADE BEADS 111

WOVEN BEADWORK 122

SQUARE WEAVE 123

BIAS WEAVE 150

NET-LIKE WEAVE 164

SEWING TECHNIQUES 176

EDGINGS 190

BEAD INLAYS 192

BEADED BASKETS 196

BEADS AND BEADWORK OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS

A STUDY BASED ON SPECIMENS IN THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, HEYE FOUNDATION

VOLUME XI

BY

WILLIAM C. ORCHARD

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

I. Dentalium-shells with incised and snake-skin decoration. Hupa of California

II. Powhatan’s robe in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

III. Girdle made of shells. Isleta pueblo, New Mexico

IV. Huron necklace of wampum beads with a runtee attached

V. Huron necklace of wampum beads with circular shell pendant

VI. Necklace of silver made by the Navaho

VII. Tubular copper beads from Hewlett, Long Island, New York

VIIA. Flattened spheroidal beads of copper from Hewlett, Long Island, New York VIII. a, Fragment of a wampum belt of the Seneca of Cattaraugus reservation, New York, b, X-ray photograph of the same, showing the drilling of the beads

IX. a, Part of a wampum belt of the Seneca of Grand River reservation, Ontario, b, X-ray photograph of the same, showing the drilling of the beads

X. Regulation bunch of wampum prepared for trade by white manufacturers in New Jersey

XI. Feathered breast-ornament decorated with seeds strung as beads and sections of bird-bones. Jivaro Indians of Ecuador and Peru

XII. Star or chevron beads from Ontario

XIII. Examples of polychrome trade beads

XIV. Tahltan loom with unfinished weaving

XV. Woven wrapping for a baby-carrier. Mono of Inyo county, California

XVI. Sauk headdress ornamented with imitation wampum

XVII. Part of an Iroquois sash with white beads interwoven

XVIII. Necklace of small glass beads from Guatemala

XIX. Comanche cradle with woven beadwork decoration

XX. Neck-ornament of the Washo

XXI. Headband from San Juan river, Colombia

XXII. Elaborate shoulder-ornament of netted beadwork. Mono of Inyo county, California

XXIII. Example of overlaid or spot stitch on a Delaware shoulder-strap

XXIV. Caughnawaga moccasin decorated with beadwork

XXV. Raised beadwork applied to birch-bark by the Mohegan

XXVI. Girl’s coat from the Eskimo of the west coast of Hudson bay

XXVII. Cloth leggings of the Chippewa decorated with silk appliqué outlined with fine lines of beads

XXVIII. Iowa Indian hair-ornament made from a bison-tail, decorated with wampum beads. From a sacred bundle

XXIX. Needle-cases of walrus-ivory inlaid with parts of beads. Eskimo of Point Barrow, Alaska

XXX. Votive bowls made from gourds and incrusted with glass beads. Huichol Indians, Mexico

XXXI. Pomo basket of coiled weave with glass beads interwoven

FIGURES

1. Shell beads from San Miguel Island, California

2. Bead made from the hinge of a marine bivalve. Santa Inès Indians, Santa Barbara county, California

3. Incised dentalium-shell from Washington

4. Method of attaching olivella-shells to thongs. Modoc

5. Method of attaching olivella-shells to fiber cords. Modoc

6. Method of attaching olivella-shells to fiber cords. Modoc

7. Method of assembling small shells in making a belt. Isleta pueblo, New Mexico

8. Detail of tying of olivella-shells to a base composed of two strings. Nevada

9. Method of assembling shells in a crochet-like stitch. Nevada

10. Rectangular pieces of shell tied to fiber cords with sinew threads. Nevada

11. Discoidal beads assembled with a crochet-like stitch. Nevada

12. Diagram of a runtee from a grave in Cayuga county, New York

13. Shell object used as a bead or pendant. Taltal, Chile

14. Massive shell beads from the Rio Ulua, Honduras

15. Ornament of shell from Santa Marta, Colombia

16. U-shape shell object from Santa Marta, Colombia

17. Notched rectangular shell bead from Santa Marta, Colombia

18. Unfinished and finished bone beads from Hawikuh, New Mexico

19. Bone beads from Point Hope and Bristol bay, Alaska

20. Bone bead with incised decoration from Maine

21. Various forms of stone beads from Mexico

22. Enlarged drawing representing the form of miniature stone beads and two kinds of drilling. Peru

23. Calcite beads from Jamaica

24. Stone bead inlaid with silver, from Mississippi

25. Bead of rock-crystal from the Valley of Mexico

26. Crystal beads from Santa Marta, Colombia

27. Beads of unusual shape from Magdalena, Colombia

28. Stone bead from Santa Marta, Colombia

28A. Steatite beads from San Miguel island, California

29. X-ray photograph of shell beads from Niagara county, New York, showing drilling

30. X-ray photograph of a long tubular bead made from the columella of a conch, showing drilling. From a grave at Burrs Hill, Rhode Island

31. X-ray photograph of a large bead from Lake Medad, Wentworth county, Ontario, showing drilling

32. X-ray photograph of the columella of a conch showing the results of four attempts at drilling, two from each end. From Hiwassee island, Tennessee

33. X-ray photograph of a long tapering cylindrical bead made from the columella of a conch, showing drilling. From Santa Barbara, California

34. X-ray photograph of a bead made from haliotis-shell, from Santa Cruz island, California, showing drilling

35. X-ray photograph of a stone bead from St. Davids, Ontario, showing drilling

36. X-ray photograph of a tubular bead of jade from Nicoya, Costa Bonito, New Mexico, showing drilling

37. X-ray photograph of four cylindrical beads of turquois from Pueblo Rica, showing drilling

38. Fragment of a shell bead from Lake Valencia, Venezuela, showing drilling

39. Stone bead from Santo Domingo with two perforations

40. Stone beads from Guerrero, Mexico

41. Tubular drill with copper cutting edge

42. Hand-drill. From a Mexican painting in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. (After McGuire)

43. Rotating the hand-drill. From a Mexican painting in Oxford University. (After McGuire)

44. Typical drill-point of stone, showing mode of lashing

45. Bow-drill

46. Pump-drill

47. Agate bead from Canazas, Province of Veraguas, Panama

48. Ovoid bead of shell from San Luis Obispo county, California

49. Enlarged photograph of a bead made of gold pellets fused together. Ecuador

50. Enlarged photograph of a gold circlet with pellets attached. Ecuador

51. Enlarged photographs showing the fusion of gold pellets and rings. Ecuador

52. Enlarged photograph of a bead composed of gold pellets and entwining wire. Ecuador

53. Enlarged photograph of two beads made of gold pellets and wire. Ecuador

54. Enlarged photograph of a gold bead composed of pellets and wire. Ecuador

55. Enlarged photograph of a bead of sheet-gold made to represent the pellet-and-wire technique. Ecuador

56. Rings formed of pellets of gold. Ecuador

57. Beads made of spirally twisted gold wire. Ecuador

58. Spheroidal gold beads. Ecuador

59. Spherical gold beads with a collar around the perforations. Ecuador

60. Spherical gold beads with pressed designs. Ecuador

61. Necklace of gold beads. Ecuador

62. Tubular beads of thin sheet-gold, from Sinu river, Colombia

63. Tubular gold beads with wire ornamentation, from Sinu river, Colombia

64. Tubular gold beads from Bocas del Toro, Panama

65. Gold-covered earthenware beads from Ulua river, Honduras

66. Gold beads from Florida

67. a, Gold bead in the form of a human skull, from Mexico, b, Cast gold bead from Colombia

68. Bead of laminated copper from Caney Fork, De Kalb county, Tennessee

69. Copper bead from Niagara county, New York

70. Bead made of flattened brass wire spirally twisted. British Columbia

71. X-ray photograph of an Iroquois wampum necklace from Brantford, Ontario

72. Wampum made without steel tools: found at Lewiston, New York

73. Tools for making Dutch wampum

74. Wampum making: Roughly shaping a piece of shell before drilling

75. Wampum making: Squaring the ends of the shell by grinding

76. Wampum making: Perforating a roughly shaped bead

77. a, Necklace of basketry beads and sections of bird-bone; British Guiana, b, Necklace of incised wooden beads; Venezuela

78. Tubular bead of earthenware from Venezuela

79. Pottery beads grooved for stringing. British Honduras

80. Bird-form gold objects from Colombia

81. Blue-glass beads from St. Eustatius island, West Indies

82. Glass beads probably made for Moorish trade. Ontario county, New York

83. Yellow glass beads made to represent grains of corn. New Jersey

84. Glass beads distributed by early traders in the West

85. Glass funnel bead from Ontario county, New York

86. Bead made of twisted spun glass. Tlingit

87. Technique of the square weave showing the use of a doubled thread for the weft. Tahltan

88. Breast-ornament of woven beadwork. Astakiwi of Modoc county, California

89. Detail of square weave showing the method of reducing the number of warp-strands. Astakiwi of Modoc county, California

90. Basket covered with beadwork, woven spirally. Astakiwi of Modoc county, California

91. Finely woven shoulder-bag of the Chippewa

92. Technique of the square weave showing the use of a single thread passed through the beads from each direction

93. Detail of a beaded panel inserted in the fringe of an Osage pipe-bag

94. Wooden heddle of the Menomini

95. Detail of the arrangement of threads and beads in weaving: two threads for the warp, one thread for the weft

96. Apron loom and partly completed apron. Arakuna Indians, upper Essequibo river, British Guiana

97. Detail of the upper edge of a woman’s apron

98. Patamona woman weaving a bead apron on a bow-loom

99. Apron of a Makusi woman of Ireng river, British Guiana

100. Single-thread warp and weft. Winnebago

101. Beaded garters of the Sauk

102. Technique of the weave of Sauk beaded garters

103. Bow-loom such as was used in weaving wampum belts

104. Technique of single-thread weave

105. Technique of double-thread weave

106. Detail of a variety of cross-weaving by the Guaymi Indians of Panama

107. Detail of the skip weave in neckbands from Nicaragua

108. Neckband of bias weave with horsehair warp-and weft-strands. Fox Indians

109. Wampum necklace of bias weave. Penobscot

110. Detail of the bias weave. Fox Indians

111. Detail of a three-strand braid streamer. Kickapoo

112. Detail of variation in bias weave. The beads are strung on the vertical threads. Chippewa

113. Detail of part of a beaded woven sash. Seneca

114. Detail of the weave of a Comanche bag for cigarette wrappers of cornhusk

115. Arrowpoints with woven bead decoration, used as charms. Ute

116. Detail of weave in fig. 115

117. Detail of woven beadwork on the Comanche cradle shown in pl. XIX

118. Detail of the mesh of the Washo neck-ornament shown in pl. XX

119. Detail of the mesh of the headband shown in pl. XXI

120. Network bag of the Yuma of Arizona

121. Detail of the technique of the Yuma network bag

122. Netted collar of the Mohave

123. Detail of the technique of the netted Mohave collar shown in fig. 122

124. Single-string foundation of beadwork from Nicaragua and Panama

125. Detail of netted necklace from Rio Napo, Ecuador

126. Detail of technique of a beadwork necklace from British Guiana

127. Detail of the overlaid or spot stitch

128. Detail of the lazy stitch

129. Example of the lazy stitch on a panel of a Sioux beaded pipe-bag

130. Beaded pouch of the Iroquois of Grand River reservation, Canada

131. Detail of two-beaded edging

132. Detail of single-beaded edging

133. Detail of two-beaded line-work

134. Labret of walrus-ivory with bead inlay. Eskimo of Point Barrow, Alaska

135. Lævicardium shell ornamented with disc beads. San Miguel island, California

136. Nootka basket made of cedar-bark with glass beads interwoven

DEDICATION

To MRS. THEA HEYE

Through whose deep interest in the arts of the American Indian, and through whose generosity the Museum collections have been enriched with many of its finest examples of beadwork, this volume is respectfully dedicated by

The Author

INTRODUCTION

BEADS owe their origin to the desire by primitive man for personal adornment; but so ancient are they that attempts to trace their earliest sources have thus far been futile. So far as the New World is concerned, beads in a great variety of shapes and materials have been found on prehistoric sites almost everywhere, and some of them are undoubtedly of great age. It is therefore evident that early aborigines of the Western Hemisphere were quite familiar with the use of beads for purposes of adornment, in