Native American Beadwork and Hides

Antique Native American beadwork may be found in all Native American culture, but never had it evolved as an art form in such a way as it did in the Plains of Native America. Native Americans made their own beads from native materials for centuries, but the painstaking process made beads scarce and hard to come by. With the introduction of trade sources through the French via Canada came a surplus of glass beads that soon came to ornament nearly every functional item of the Plains culture literally from head to toe. Sewn with sinew thread on hand-tanned hides, elaborate and colorful designs began to evolve, the style and symbolism of which became an important means of tribal identity and inter-tribal trade. The organic nature of the hides and the utilitarian use to which they were put means few samples prior to the 1930’s survive making those pieces still existing rare indeed.