Floral beaded bag

Floral beaded bag. circa 1890. University of Oregon. Museum of Natural and Cultural History. 1-776 © University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History 

https://natural-history.uoregon.edu/beadwork01a

Floral beaded bag 

Made from a mixture of European and Native materials, the bag is a physical melding of two worlds. These bags were widespread by the 19th century as the fur trade brought wool cloth and glass beads, manufactured first in Venice and later in Bohemia, across the Americas.  Despite its foreign materials, these bags were still seen as uniquely Native objects. To a Native weaver, the design likely resonates with spiritual knowledge. Plateau peoples believed that they played a mediating role between the Upper World (sun and stars) and the Lower World (salmon and roots). The flowers’ yellow centers may symbolize the sun, and their symmetry illustrates the balance between the Upper World sun that allows the flowers and roots below to grow. 

Derek Maiolo