Beadwork

   Seed beadwork was a common skill of the Upper Great Lakes tribes. Information about beadwork comes primarily from archeological digs, historic documents and surviving beadwork pieces. Although seed beads have been found in many sites in the upper Great Lakes, there are no surviving prehistoric pieces of beadwork.

    There are two basic forms of beadwork - sewn and woven. For sewn beadwork, a piece of birch bark was commonly used to trace a pattern. Next, this was traced with white thread or a white paint. One row of beads was sewn onto this marking, then subsequent rows were added parallel to the first. There are two methods for sewn beadwork, overlaid (spot) and lazy stitch. Overlaid (spot) was the most popular in the Upper Great Lakes area. The lazy stitch was more prevalent on large beaded items. Sewn beadwork was traditionally done on the hide of deer or moose. A thorn or split bone was used as an awl to make holes for the sinew. The sinew, in most cases was firm enough to act as its own needle. As European goods were introduced, metal awls replaced bone and cotton or linen thread replaced sinew. Many patterns were geometrical before 1800.  They gradually became more curved, and often had floral designs.

    Woven design tends to be more geometric. Plant fibers or sinew were used as the weft and the warp thread. The introduction of cotton and thread changed the landscape of beading. The warp thread served as a base for the fabric, while the weft threads were used to carry the beads. A tension loom kept the warp threads taut by attaching one end to a tree, and the other end to the weaver's waist. A bow loom was simply a bent bow with warp threads attached at the ends. This is believed to be the earliest type of loom. Rectangular and box looms are modern in design.

    The two techniques in weaving are square weave and bias weave. The square weave involved the warp and weft at ninety-degree angles. Beads were strung on the weft and were separated by the warp. This was the most common method. The bias method, also called diagonal weaving was a more complex method. In the weaving motion, the doubled warp and weft threads exchange functioned in alternating rows. This process was more time consuming than the square weave.

References:

Beads: Their Use By Upper Great Lakes Indians. Grand Rapids Museum Publication Number 3, 1977.

The American Indian Craft Book. Marz and Nono Minor, University of Nebraska Press, 1972.

By Ryan Dorland