Historic Iroquois and Wabanaki Beadwork

The Abenaki and the Bellows Falls (VT) Petroglyphs

2012-01-28T10:50:00.002-05:00

I’m privileged to live in Southern Vermont, just a short distance from the cascade known as the "Great Falls," located in the village of Bellows Falls. This was a venerable site to Vermont's First People. Today, most of the rapids that once rushed through this Connecticut River cataract have been diverted to a nearby hydroelectric plant and all that remains of the Great Falls is a mere trickle of its former self (fig. 1). In times past, the splendor of this natural wonder attracted large numbers of Abenakis and it was considered one of the finest locations for fishing in northern New England.

Figure 1

In the meadow across the river from the falls is the village of North Walpole, New Hampshire, where local residents have uncovered copious amounts of stone implements over the past two centuries.

Since the first settlements in Bellows Falls, numerous Indian graves have been inadvertently dug up throughout the village and near the falls. There is a tradition among longtime residents that the section of town located on the west side of Main Street, across from the Square, was once an Indian burial mound (Hayes 1907:29). Additionally, two centuries of excavations for roads and building construction near the petroglyphs have uncovered numerous skeletal remains throughout the village and on the island leading to the bridge that crosses the Connecticut River. Lyman Hayes interviewed the late Dr. S.M. Blake who indicated to him that “the whole distance across the island had, in a much earlier period, been used for an Indian burial-ground. The bodies were uncovered sitting upright, having been buried in a sitting posture with the knees drawn up to the chin, in a circular hole dug deep enough so that the top of the heads came within a foot or two of the surface of the ground” (Hayes 1907:29). Even the mound just to the west of the petroglyphs, where a power substation is located today, was once an Abenakis burial mound. It would seem that the village was erected upon what could be one of the largest burial sites in all of Vermont, and perhaps in all of New England. This was and still is a very sacred place to the Abenakis.

Up from the river's edge, along the rocks that run contiguous to the west bank of the Connecticut River, and just south of the Great Falls, are located some of the most enigmatic petroglyphs in all of New England. Here we find a curious assortment of faces chiseled into the granite outcropping just above the spillway (fig. 2, 3 & 4).

Figure 2 - North panel of petroglyphs at Bellows Falls, VT.

Figure 3 - The north panel of petroglyphs at Bellows
Falls, Vermont with the Connecticut River below and
Mount Kilburn, in North Walpole, NH in the distance.

Figure 4

Figure 5 - 19th century logging image at the site of the petroglyphs.

Ever since their discovery over two centuries ago, writers have suggested numerous interpretations. The first written account of the petroglyphs appears in the writings of Rev. David McClure, in 1789, who noted that the English colonist who had settled the area some fifty years earlier had observed them. Their age has been estimated from as little as 300 years to as much as 3000. Descriptions of their origin and function are as varied as the people who observed them. The Rev. McClure was of the opinion that the site marked the location of “evil spirits.” Edward Kendall, another Englishman who traveled through the area in 1808 believed they were nothing more than an activity the Indians engaged in during their “idle hours.” The ethnologist Henry Schoolcraft wrote, in 1857, that the petroglyphs marked the site of an important battle that took place sometime in the past. Other accounts describe the faces as representations of people who had drowned in the rapids below.

Impressions of the site by Native people suggest there is a connection between the faces on the rocks and a nearby burial mound. Since the faces are looking west, toward the traditional direction an Abenakis' soul travels after the body's physical death, it has been suggested that the faces could be there as markers, pointing the way home to a newly departed spirit.

Today, there are only two known panels of rock carvings at the site. They are situated north and south of each other and both are just south of the old Vilas Bridge that connects Bellows Falls, Vermont with Walpole, New Hampshire. During the nineteenth century many of the petroglyphs were destroyed when dynamite was used to free up log jams in the immediate area (fig. 5). This would lead us to believe that what exists today may be just a small sampling of the carvings that were once there.

One of the earliest representations we have of the petroglyphs is a drawing by the artist A.C. Hamlin that was published in Schoolcraft, in 1857 (fig.6). This drawing may be of another panel that was destroyed as it is quite different from the existing panels or from one depicted in a circa 1860 photograph (fig. 7) that was illustrated in the History of the Town of Rockingham (Hayes 1907:31). Hayes only shows one panel with not even a mention of the other so the existence of two panels today is a mystery. Hayes also illustrated two other drawings of presumably now destroyed panels (figs. 8 & 9).

Figure 6 - 1857 drawing of the petroglyphs from Schoolcraft.

Around 1890, a large retaining wall was built just west of the existing rock carvings and between then and the 1930's, the petroglyphs were subjected to periodic wear from several sources. Snow filled with road grit from snow-plowing as well as mill ash from local factories was routinely dumped over the wall and onto the petroglyphs. Delabarre reported that in 1921 the faces were barely perceptible and that they were almost totally obliterated by 1928. In the early 1930's, in a well-meaning attempt to rectify the situation, the Daughters of the American Revolution hired a local stone cutter to chisel out the lost images from the rock and he no doubt took liberties with his work. A study of the 1860 photograph (fig. 7) reveals that this panel has the identical cracks in the stone as the existing south panel (fig. 10), yet the north panel (figs. 2, 3, & 4) has at least two groupings of images that are identical to those on the 1860 photo of the south panel. So why was the north panel not mentioned in 1860, considering how prominent it is today? I believe the stonecutter used the 1860 photo to create a new panel, the north one, on the assumption or the knowledge that there were more faces there at a former time. Or perhaps the work went quicker than he estimated so he may have added additional faces to the project to justify his salary.

Figure 7

The current academic explanation for the petroglyphs is that they were shamanistic in origin. Professor William Haviland of the University of Vermont has written that tribal people from around the world consider unusual geographic features such as rock outcroppings, cliffs and waterfalls as places where one can commune with spirits. Many of these sites across the planet have rock art associated with them. Haviland believes that places such as these were conducive to the trance activity of shamans and that the spiritual trance experiences of these individuals are at the heart of this art form. The faces represent spirits that the shaman encountered in his trance experience. Though numerous explanations have been proposed for the rock art, Haviland believes that those interpretations “reveal more about the cultural preconceptions of their European and American authors then they do about the petroglyphs and what motivated their production." He concludes by saying, "the rarity of rock art elsewhere in northern New England suggests that this must have been an exceptionally sacred place" (For more information on this, see: A New Look at Vermont's Oldest Art: Understanding the Bellows Falls Petroglyphs, by Professor William Haviland and Marjory Powers in Vermont History, #62(4) Fall issue, 1994).

Figure 8

Hayes’ 1907 History of Rockingham, Vermont records an account of a group of Abenaki who early in the summer of 1856, made their annual pilgrimage to the petroglyphs and set up a summer camp on the banks of the Connecticut River. It gives a rare glimpse into the life of one family of Abenaki who earned their living by selling their arts and crafts during the early nineteenth century. There are pejorative terms and concepts used in Hayes account and the unnamed chief was certainly not the last of his tribe. Such comments are signs of the times in which they were written and not my personal sentiments.

Figure 9

“During the first half of the last century small parties of more civilized and peaceable Abenaqui Indians used to visit Bellows Falls nearly every summer, coming from their homes in Canada and New York state. They came down the Connecticut in their canoes, usually bringing supplies of baskets and other trinkets which they had manufactured during the previous winters, which they sold to citizens of Bellows Falls and the then large number of summer visitors. They usually encamped on Pine hill, which was then north of the village and extended as far north as the residence of the late F. E. Proctor at the extreme north end of Green Street. Sometimes they built their wigwams on the beach south of the falls, at times on the Vermont side, at others on the New Hampshire side. The men spent much time fishing in the river and hunting on the hills on both sides of the river, while the squaws carried on the mercantile branch of their business.

Figure 10 - South panel of petroglyphs at Bellows Falls, VT

The last remnant of this tribe came to Bellows Falls… in their birchbark canoes. The party consisted of a chief who was very old and infirm, a young wife and their sons, one about twenty and the other about nine years old, and others... They built their wigwams in true Indian fashion, of poles, covering them with bark and the skins of wild animals, and during the whole summer the place was of much interest to all in this vicinity….

The older son spoke good English and was a manly appearing youth. He was an expert in the use of his rifle and shot gun and collected considerable money from visitors by giving exhibitions of his marksmanship …The chief himself was very intelligent and conversed interestingly with his visitors. He had fought with the English in different wars and gave many startling incidents connected with his early life and wild mode of living. He had been to England three times and he wore a large silver medal presented to him by King George III, in acknowledgement of his services. He was very proud of this, and lost no opportunity to exhibit it to his callers. It bore the king’s profile in relief and an appropriate inscription….

Late in the season the weather grew cold and the party prepared to return to Canada before the river was frozen over, but the old chief wished to die beside the “Great Falls,” and be buried with his fathers. After long continued discussion, his wife left him in his wigwam with his two sons, and went north with others of the party. The wigwam was removed to the higher ground near River Street about opposite the present location of Taylor’s livery stable….

In his last hour he called his elder son to his side and with his finger on his wrist showed how his pulse beat slowly and unsteadily. “I’m going to the Great Spirit,”’ he said, feebly. He gave to his son the medal and the old rifle he had carried in the wars and charged him to wear the one and keep the other as long as he should live... and this last local representative of the original tribe of Abenaqui Indians was buried in what was then the Rockingham burying-grounds, and now known as the old Catholic cemetery, on the terraces in the west part of the village of Bellows Falls. No stone was erected to mark the spot, and the old representative of the proud tribe of Abenaquis rest in a grave, the location of which cannot be pointed out” (Hayes 1907: 48-51).

Figure 11 - Abenaki beadwork artist
Rhonda Besaw.

Today, there is a developing craft tradition among the Wabanaki and perhaps the most accomplished beadworker among them is Rhonda Besaw (fig. 11). Rhonda is a consummate artist who is producing some of the most intriguing beaded bags made by a Native artist today (fig. 12). “I have been doing beadwork for about fifteen years,” says Rhonda. “I was initially encouraged to try beadwork by a Mi’kmaq woman who showed me the classic stitches I still use to this day. Over the years, other Native beadworkers have shared tips and pointers, but the majority of what I have learned has been by trial and error. I believe my ability to do beadwork is a direct result of my genes and my connection to my beadworking ancestors. When I sit down to bead, I invite my grandmothers to join me; those who crossed over long ago and like them, many of the designs I use come from dreams and reflection.”

Figure 12 - Some of Rhonda's exceptional purses.

“I am of both Eastern and Western Abenaki descent,” says Rhonda. “My ancestors lived in southern Quebec, northern New Hampshire, and along the Connecticut River valley for hundreds of years. By doing beadwork in a similar style as my ancestors, I honor those that came before me and leave something for future generations. Through these tiny beads, the story of our survival can be shared and my relatives can recognize a piece of who they are. My hope is that my work will inspire one of them to learn more about their culture and take up a needle and thread to relate their own narrative of survival. By sharing the story of these tiny beads, it may be known that the indigenous people of New Hampshire are still here.”

Figure 13 - Rhonda's Petroglyph bag

Rhonda, depicted here in my portrait of her (fig. 14) created a beaded bag (fig. 13) to honor the site of the petroglyphs. She says “many of those ancient rock carvings show faces that are gender neutral. Some have rays around their heads. This gave me pause to think of how I might make a modern day petroglyph in beadwork.” Rhonda says she used dark blue cut beads to outline the rays so as “to give them an interesting and random sparkle and a roughness that you see on these rocks. The copper colored beads in the center of the stars and along the seed pods signify the spark of life. The blue wavy line along the border symbolizes the river. The dark blue silk ribbon edge binding also represents the river. The grey face denotes the male; the multicolored, dark blue face, the female. The grey beads have a radiance about them that reminds me of our granite rocks when the sun is shining down on them. In my beaded petroglyphs, the rays above the male’s head signify male power/energy; the light of the sun and fire. I have been taught that in the Abenaki culture, man is the keeper of the fire and the protector of life. The female is done with matte finished, dark blue/purple beads. This is also how some of the wet river rocks appear to me. In addition to being providers of life, women have a strong connection to water. From the top of the female petroglyph comes the curled-up fiddle head motif (a very old design). It signifies new life in the plant world. The white and copper colored beads along the fiddleheads are seeds; around the head of the female are blossoming flowers. Her mouth is an open circle; the circle of the life force in keeping with the giver of life theme. The white tubular beads are an expression of energy. The stars on the other side represent the realm of our ancestors; where they originated and where we will return when we pass on. The design on the bag symbolizes physical life on one side and spiritual life on the other.”

Rhonda said she wanted people to know that the placement of every bead was a conscious choice and not a random act. “When creating a work of art, everything has a meaning and a place.”

Figure 14 - My portrait of Rhonda with one of her
beaded bags.

You can see more of Rhonda's exceptional beadwork on her website:

http://rhondabesaw.com/

References Cited

Delabarre, EB 1928

Dighton Rock: A Study of the Written Rocks of New England. Walter Neale, NY

Haviland, William A. & Powers, Marjory, W. 1994

“A New Look at Vermont's Oldest Art: Understanding the Bellows Falls Petroglyphs,” in Vermont History, #62(4) Fall issue.

Hayes, Lyman Simpson

1907 History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham – Cambridgeport and Bartonsville. 1753-1907 with family genealogies. Published by the town of Bellows Falls.

Schoolcraft, Henry R.

1851-1857 Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. 6 Volumes. Lippincott, Grambo, Philadelphia.

Encampments

2011-11-23T12:27:00.003-05:00

During the nineteenth century, several writers have given us an account of the places where Iroquois artisans took up residence during the travel season to sell their work. There is also a small corpus of images of these encampments and both will be discussed in this posting.

Throughout the Victorian period, women acquired a sentimentalized vision of Indian life from prints and magazine articles in which Native people were often inaccurately depicted as still living in quintessential harmony with nature. Indian encampment life was romanticized by some writers, such as a Mademoiselle Rouche, who wrote an account of one in the 1859 edition of the Lady’s Newspaper, a British publication. The encampment in her apocryphal account was “perhaps located on the picturesque shores of some vast lake, where the giant trees shut out the oppressive beams of the burning sun, where the day-light is softened down by shades of foliage, weaving, like the many folds of Nature’s curtains, as the soft breeze rustles through them, with a carpet of grass, strewn with wild flowers, and a little streamlet gurgling by on its way towards the lake. In such a spot may the lodge of the Indian have been erected… where a dwelling of birch-bark, with a buffalo skin hung in the opening, which served as a door. Here, no doubt, curling up among the trees of the forest, rose the blue smoke from the blazing faggot-fire, over which the savoury mess of the family meal might be simmering, composed of the wild duck, the squirrel, and such fish as the lake afforded, while around the habitation hunting and fishing implements might be hung about in proof that the supply of nature’s wants was as much a pleasure as a necessity to the half-civilized sojourner in those uncultivated glades and forest depths” (as quoted in Phillips 1998:220). The image in figure 1 more accurately represents the harsh reality of Indian encampment life during that period.

Fig. 1- One panel from each of three separate stereo views of a Tuscarora encampment. Location is not specified but likely somewhere near Niagara Falls. The images are all copyrighted 1893 by photographer George Barker of Niagara Falls (private collection).

Besides Niagara Falls, the exotic and imaginative souvenir items that were produced by the Haudenosaunee were readily available at summer resorts and tourist destinations throughout the Northeast. The August 1, 1859, issue of the New York Herald newspaper ran a large section that detailed many of the popular tourist destinations at the time. The article covered everything from fashion apparel, food, rules of behavior and amusements, and many of these venues were destinations for the Indians as well – places where they could sell their baskets and fancy beadwork. Some of the localities mentioned were Cape May in New Jersey; Montreal and St. Catharine’s Springs in Canada; Lake Memphremagog in Vermont; Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania; Long Branch, Orient, and Glen Cove on Long Island; New Rochelle and Lake George in New York (fig. 2, 3, 4 & 5); and Salt Sulphur Springs in Virginia. The New York Bathing Machines are also mentioned. Other localities in New York State, such as Alexandria Bay (fig. 6 & 7), the Indian village at Saratoga Springs (fig. 8 & 9), Tabor’s Indian Bazaar in Watkins Glen were also popular destinations. The Indian encampment at Sharon Springs (fig. 10), just south of Canajoharie was actually an Abenaki encampment and they seem to have traveled to sell their work as much as the Mohawk did. The June, 1856 edition of Harper New Monthly Magazine indicated that "In the woods on the top of the hill, above the springs, was a small encampment of St. Francis Indians, who have occupied the spot for several consecutive seasons, make and sell baskets, fans, and other splint-work, and give pleasure to visitors by their novelty and the picturesqueness of their little village. The chief among them was a very intelligent man, of pure Indian blood, whose wife was a white woman, the daughter of respectable Methodist clergyman. She was represented as an exemplary wife and mother, and seems to have acquired all the gravity and stoicism of the people among whom her lot is cast. Day after day she toils there at basketmaking, and appeared happy."
These were fashionable vacation hubs for the expanding middle class and many were locales where Indian souvenir items could be purchased.

Fig. 2 – One panel from a stereo view titled “Indian Encampment at Lake George, New York.” Circa 1870. Several ladies in bustle dresses are examining a selection of baskets on the table. Possibly a group of Mohawks. Photographer: R.S. Stoddard, Glen Falls, New York (private collection).

Fig. 3 – One panel from a stereo view titled “The young Basket Maker, Lake George, New York.” Circa 1870. Possibly a Mohawk from Akwesasne or Kahnawake. Photographer: R.S. Stoddard, Glen Falls, New York (private collection).

Fig. 4 – One panel from a stereo view titled “Group of Young Indians, Lake George, New York.” Circa 1870. Possibly Mohawks from Akwesasne or Kahnawake. Photographer: R.S. Stoddard, Glen Falls, New York (private collection).

Fig. 5 – Cabinet card of three young girls standing before the display table of Peter Lawrence, Fancy Basket Maker, at the Lake George Indian Encampment. A large model canoe and a selection of fancy baskets are on display. Dated on the back - August 6, 1892 (private collection).

Fig. 6 – Images from two separate stereo view titled: Indian Camp, Thousand Islands. From a series titled: Scenery among the Thousand Islands on the River St. Lawrence, from Crossmon House Photographic Studio, Alexandria Bay, Jefferson County, N.Y. - A.C. McIntyre & Co., Artists. Circa 1870 (private collection).

Fig. 7 – One panel from a stereo view titled: Indian Camp, Thousand Islands. From a series titled: Scenery among the Thousand Islands on the River St. Lawrence, from Crossmon House Photographic Studio, Alexandria Bay, Jefferson County, N.Y. - A.C. McIntyre & Co., Artists. Circa 1870 (private collection).

Fig. 8 – Images from two separate stereo views of the Indian Encampment in Saratoga Springs, NY. Circa 1870. Click on the image to enlarge it (private collection).

Fig. 9 – Images from two separate stereo views of the Indian Encampment in Saratoga Springs, NY. Circa 1870. Click on the image to enlarge it (private collection).

Fig. 10 – An engraving titled Indian Encampment, Sharon Springs [New York]. 4.5 inches in height by 4.5 inches in width. From the June 1856, edition of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (private collection).

Emily Rollinson has written that in the city of Saratoga Springs, “one of the earliest camps was located at Pine Grove, near North Broadway... It was more like a festival where the Indians happened to gather than an actual encampment, but Pine Grove set the standard for other encampments of the area.
The largest and most famous of these camps was located in Congress Park (fig. 11). This encampment, also referred to as the Gypsy Camp, was originally founded in 1848 where Broadway and Ballston Avenue meet. A band of Indians arrived each year (probably from Canada) to staff the encampment. They arrived in late spring, and stayed through the end of autumn or whenever the first snow arrived.

Fig. 11 – Late nineteenth century photograph of the Indian Encampment at Saratoga Springs, New York. The large sign leading to the Indian encampment reads “Indian Encampment Studio.” Some of the booths where the Mohawk sold their creations can be seen in the distance, below the sign (private collection).

The camp was moved to Congress Park in the 1870s, on the corner of Circular Street and Spring Street. It remained there until 1902, when Richard Canfield purchased the property and replaced the camp with the Italian Gardens and Trout Pond of Congress Park” (Rollinson 2005).
Some Mohawk beadworkers lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle in an effort to market their crafts. Ruth Phillips has indicated that Vendor’s permits from one Kahnawake family demonstrate that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the MacComber’s travelled as far as Colorado and the state of Washington to sell their beadwork (Phillips 1998:33). In a rare encampment image of a family of Mohawks, they can be seen seated before a display of their beadwork (fig. 12). The beaded whiskbroom holder directly above the woman’s head is dated 1897, in beads. The designs on the man’s coat depict a lion and a unicorn. These are old Scottish and British heraldic representations and as such suggest a British tie-in. In 1860, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, visited the Grand River Reserve in Brantford, Ontario. Nine years later, the young Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught visited there and was made an honorary chief. So there may be a connection between these events and the symbols on the man’s jacket. At the very least the heraldic icons suggest a Canadian origin for this exceptional image.

Fig. 12 – Late-nineteenth century cabinet card of a family of Mohawks in front of a display of their beadwork. 6.5 inches high by 4.25 inches wide. The whiskbroom holder above the woman’s head is dated 1897 in beads. No photographer or location indicated (private collection).

    One of the more telling accounts of life in an Indian encampment reveals the difficult circumstances under which Iroquois artisans worked at their craft to earn a meager existence. In 1860, the German writer and traveler John Kohl, “armed with sticks and lanterns,” set out into a Canadian forest on a dark, autumn night in search of an Iroquois encampment that someone had told him about. He wrote that from a distance they “perceived the glimmer of a distant light among the trees, and ascertained that this was from their [the Indians] watch-fire, which shone brighter and brighter as we advanced, and at last lit up a whole forest scene for us.
    We advanced cautiously for fear of alarming the poor people, and found two women – an elder and a younger, mother and daughter, seated under a very airy kind of tent, which consisted, indeed, of nothing more than a large cloth spread over a few boughs of trees tied together. The elder woman was occupied in basket-making; the younger was stirring the fire, made of great branches and roots of trees, and both had their naked feet in the hot ashes, so that they seemed to me too be roasting. They remained quite undisturbed and busy at their work, and when we wished them good evening, answered our salutation very simply, without asking us any questions about what we wanted or where we came from.
     We expressed a hope that we had not frightened them, and they said, no; they had heard us coming when we were a good way off. We sat down by the fire, and continued the conversation; but their answers were always shorter than our questions. We learned that they were Iroquois, from a village on the ‘Lake of the Two Mountains,’ that I had passed the day before. The men of the family, father and son-in-law, had gone further up the Ottawa to hunt, some months ago; the women had accompanied them as far as Bytown [the former name of Ottawa], and were waiting for them to return afterwards together to their village on the lake, and in the mean time were earning their living by basket-making. They worked in the evening and at night, and in the day-time the daughter carried their little manufactures to the town, and the mother took care of the tent, looked for berries, boiled maize, and got something for the daughter to eat on her return. The old woman spoke no word of English, but the daughter, who also understood a few words of French, made civil replies to our questions.
     A hundred yards off there was another “camp,” as it was called, though it consisted, like this, of only a single tent. To this, which was an Algonquin camp, we scrambled over the rocks and other natural barricades that had been left between the two. The occupants were precisely as in the tent of the Iroquois, and old and a young woman, but from certain whimpering sounds that proceeded from under a sheep-skin, we perceived that the younger woman had two children. Here also the elder matron was deaf and dumb to European language, and only the younger could speak a little broken French. While we were talking, the former sat still without granting us so much as a look, thought her fingers continued in busy motion over the large basket that she had in hand; and the elastic strips of wood were pushed hither and thither, and the superfluous ends fell under her knife almost with the rapidity of an American steam saw-mill. We inquired, the daughter being interpreter, whether she would not now allow herself a little rest, as it was now ten o’clock; but she replied very briefly: ‘The baskets bring in very little. They must be ready to-morrow. We work every night.’ When we asked how old she was, the daughter’s French arithmetic quite broke down. She could count as much as ten, but was puzzled how to express any higher number, and therefore explained to her mother in Algonquin what we wanted to know.
     As soon as she had understood the question, the old lady laid aside her basket, spread out her ten fingers, and then struck her two hands at regular intervals seven times together; she then snatched her basket again, and went on plaiting as busily as before.
     I could not get out of my head the picture of this grey-haired woman of seventy sitting there on the bare damp ground in the comfortless forest, so hard at work: and I could not help thinking that the accusation of sloth, so commonly made against the poor Indians should be received ‘cum grano salis,’ [with a grain of salt]” (Kohl 1861:272-275, vol. 1).

The Mohawk also sold their work on the streets of Montreal (fig. 13). This engraving appeared in the July 13, 1861 edition of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. The article was titled Indian Women of Montreal and the text that accompanied it read as follows:

     “Who has not seen in the streets of New York, at Saratoga, at Niagara, and especially at Montreal, those short, round, strangely-dressed, half Chinese looking women, whose appearance puzzles foreigners so much, but whom our world unites in terming Indian squaws? Always clad, in the warmest weather, in one vast blue blanket, covering the whole figure from head to foot, always bearing a basket, always quiet, they illustrate, after two centuries of life in contact with white people, the original state of woman among savages - that of uncomplaining, patient endurance. Come upon them in one of their gipsy like encampments, and you will find them at domestic duty, or patiently working their moccasins and baskets; see them abroad, there is still the same animal-like endurance.
     Many of these squaws, especially those who have some French blood in their veins, are very beautiful. We have seen one at Niagara who was both sprightly and graceful, and for several years Nancy, at Sharon, was quite a belle, selling her horsehair ear-rings at preposterous prices to young gentlemen. But, as a rule, the half-breed squaw, or the Indian, is a rather plain, somewhat giving to sulking, and seldom very lively; “Ugh!” and “Two shillin’!” forming the average limits of her English conversation.
     Our engraving represents two extremely well know moccasin and pincushion sellers of Montreal, who will at once be recognized by such of our readers as are familiar with that city. Like the florare, or flower-girls of Florence, they are general acquaintances, but seek their special patrons in strangers. Many of their wares are really beautiful, and are regarded as the most characteristic and charming presents which can be sent from the New World to the Old.”

Fig. 13 – 1861 engraving from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.

The Quebec Tercentenary, July 1908, was another venue where the Mohawk had an encampment and likely sold their work. The images in fig. 14 are from a large group of stereo views that were produced of the event and there were many other places that went unrecorded.

Fig. 14 – One panel from each of two separate stereo views of the Indian encampment at the Quebec Tercentenary, July 1908. The individuals in the left image are identified as “Scar-Face and American Horse, chiefs of the Iroquois.” The left image is by Underwood and Underwood. The right image is by the Keystone View Company.

To many Victorian women, the novel items that were made by Native women had an exotic allure. They considered beaded bags as highly valued fashion accessories and a cherished item of personal adornment. Many travelers felt the need to save vacation mementoes as a way to relive their holidays and these items demonstrated to friends and family that their owners were well-bred and cultured. Yet it’s unlikely that any of them appreciated the time and effort that Native artisans put into creating these objects. Each piece was the product of hard work. As Native artisans worked on their creations, they thoughtfully wove stories into their designs which told of what it meant to be Haudenosaunee. The finely executed surfaces of their products were the canvas upon which they displayed their technical skills and artistic vision. But below the surface, the power inherent in a beautiful object was a central feature of life. Many of the stories that went into the work are lost now but the work endures as a legacy, testifying to the inventiveness and sense of beauty of an exceptional and laudable people.

References Cited

Kohl, John G.

1861 Travels in Canada, and Through the States of New York and Pennsylvania. Translated by Mrs. Percy Sinnett. Revised by the author. In two volumes. Volume 1. London: George Manwaring, publisher.

Phillips, Ruth

1998 Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700 – 1900. University of Washington Press, Seattle and London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal and Kingston.

Rollinson, Emily

2005 From a paper titled: Indian Encampments, written under the advisement of Dr. William Fox (now retired), Skidmore College. The paper was published online at: https://academics.skidmore.edu/saratoga_census/wiki/index.php/Indian_Encampments

Unusual 19th Century Iroquois Floral Bags

2011-08-27T12:41:00.011-04:00

During the nineteenth century, the western New York Haudenosaunee, and particularly the Tuscaroras, were on the frontlines of the world’s most exciting and emerging tourist market. Many of the Victorians who came to Niagara Falls were conscious of fashion and any stylish dress accessories they would have acquired there – such as beaded bags – would have reflected their sense of refinement and taste.

The beaded bags that the Haudenosaunee produced for the tourist trade are distinctive and changed stylistically over time. These changes occurred gradually but, as a general rule, distinguishable style refinements can be categorized and placed into specific time periods.

Figure 1 - Typical floral bag in the Niagara style. Private collection.

During the classic period of Haudenosaunee souvenir beadwork (1800-1840s), many bags featured curvilinear and geometric designs and organic motifs. Not long after the dawn of the Victorian era however, which began in June of 1837 with the reign of Queen Victoria, a major design transformation – the rise of the Niagara floral style – took place in Haudenosaunee beadwork (figure 1). This example is typical of bags seen in this style. The flowers were frequently ovate in shape and often delineated in two shades of the same hue. Some researchers consider this a diagnostic feature of the style. The color combinations were, in many instances, a medium blue and pale blue; wine red and pink; solid yellow and transparent yellow; and white and crystal.
     As a general rule, the earliest bags in this floral style (mid-1840s to mid-1850s) had long, thick beaded stems, usually in dark transparent green, though blue is occasionally used and there are other exceptions. Earlier bags also had smaller beads than later examples. Despite the general diagnostic rule stated above, all of the primary and secondary colors were used on these bags. Red, white, pink, rose, pumpkin, crystal, opaque greasy yellow and transparent yellow, gold, and various distinct hues of blue beads were the predominant colors used. From time to time, purple, violet and green are seen in the flowers and other combinations are found. Occasionally, green beads were used for flowers, but generally green was reserved for stems and occasionally for leaves. Numerous examples from the early period of this floral style had bilaterally symmetrical designs. As many as sixteen colors have been observed on unique examples of these bags and though some beadwork enthusiasts cling to the notion that all the pieces in this style were made in the four diagnostic color combinations, I will demonstrate that the overwhelming evidence doesn’t support this notion.
    Deborah Harding indicated in her thesis on Iroquois beaded bags that unlike the irregular patterning of colors found in the earlier curvilinear and geometric style (1800-1840s), the Niagara floral style (or Euro-floral style as she refers to it) exhibited “a very regular patterning of color choices.” Although the use of specific color combinations such as dark blue/light blue, red/pink and opaque green/transparent green can be considered a diagnostic feature of these bags, “[s]tatistically, however, only the combinations of opaque dark blue with opaque light blue, and opaque green with transparent green showed any significance.” She said that opaque red with opaque pink and transparent red with transparent pink combinations “produced results of low statistical significance” (Harding 1994:61).
     Pieter Hovens has written that [d]uring the second half of the nineteenth-century floral designs. . . carried positive associations with ideals of womanhood and domesticity, explaining why the floral beadwork used by Native women to ornament dress and household accessories was so popular with Victorians consumers (Hovens 2010:26).
    Perhaps as an accommodation to Victorian fashion trends, the floral motifs on these bags became the predominate beadwork style that would be made and sold by the Haudenosaunee during the early Victorian period and the overwhelming evidence suggests that these bags were made in many Haudenosaunee communities. Museum and private collections contain hundreds of examples that were either collected from or are attributed to the Tuscaroras, Senecas, Onondagas and the Mohawk. Because so many of these bags were sold at Niagara Falls, they are generally referred to as Niagara floral-style.

Figure 2 - C. 1860 CDV of a lady, possibly Seneca, with a Niagara floral-style
beaded bag. Private collection. Photographer: C.A. Douglas & Co., Buffalo, NY

It's unusual to find early images of Native people wearing these bags but in the circa 1860, hand-tinted, carte-de-visite (CDV) in figure 2, what was likely a Seneca woman is wearing one from her waist belt in the form of a chatelaine purse. Did she make the bag? That is certainly an unanswered question but in all probability she did.
Other evidence suggests that this floral style could have originated with the Seneca from the Tonawanda Reservation in western New York (see: A Cherished Curiosity – The Niagara Floral-style Beaded Bag in the Victorian Era in American Indian Art Magazine, Autumn 2010). This particular blog posting will focus on the unusual examples that were done in the Niagara floral style and will highlight those bags that do not fit the diagnostic characteristics described above.

Figure 3 - Niagara floral style bag beaded on silk. Collection of
Jeff Graybill.

The use of silk ribbon as an edge trim on early souvenir bags may have been occasioned by events in France. “Large stocks of ribbons were dumped on the Indian market when the French Revolution [1789-1799] enforced in France a rigid simplicity of dress” (Brasser 1976: 38). Franklin Allen points out that during the period from 1841 to 1846, “there was a noticeable falling off in the demand for silk goods” (Allen 1904:32). These dates coincide with the rapid decline in the use of silk edging on beaded bags and with the introduction of the Niagara floral style that, more often than not, was beaded on velvet and used a cotton ribbon/hem tape as the edge binding. But not all bags in this style were done this way.

Figure 4 - C. 1830s Seneca bag with a rudimentary form of the Niagara
style in the center panel. Private collection.

The origin of this floral style has long been a topic of discussion among collectors and researchers alike. Evidence in the way of dated examples and early photographs suggests it emerged during the early to mid-1840s, in the waning years of the classic period of Haudenosaunee beadwork. But it’s possible that this style developed even earlier than that. During the transition from the curvilinear style to the Niagara floral style, Native beadworkers were experimenting with the form and occasionally examples are found where the entire bag was beaded on silk. The purse in figure 3 is an early example in the Niagara floral style and it may date to the late 1830s or early 1840s. The stem style on this bag has an incipient representation of the thick stems that would come to dominate the designs on mature examples of the early Niagara floral style. The stem on this bag is also very similar to one on a Seneca example from the 1830s (figure 4). This example has a rudimentary form of the Niagara floral-style in the center panel of the bag.

Figure 5 - Early floral bag beaded on silk.
Collection of Jeff Graybill.

The bag in figure 4 may be the genesis of the style and adds weight to the argument that this floral style originated with the Seneca from western New York. The bead colors used to delineate the flowers and leaves on the example in figure 3 are unusual. This bag also has a two-bead edging along the perimeter, a beading technique that is usually found on pieces from the classic period of Haudenosaunee beadwork (1800-1840s) and the shape of the bag is a variation of the hex shape found on many early bags.

Figure 6 - Early Niagara style bag beaded on silk.
Private collection.

Two other unusual bags in the early Niagara style (figures 5 & 6) are also beaded on silk. Though the elongated shape of both bags is similar, the beading style on each is different and the floral forms and use of color on figure 6 is not typical of the style. This bag also has a false flap with a beaded fringe.

Figure 7 - Early floral bag that is beaded on silk. The bilaterally symmetrical
design is more typical of the type we see on these yet some of the color combinations used are atypical.
Collection of Jeff Graybill.

The bilateral symmetry and the floral designs on the silk bag in figure 7 are more typical of those observed in the Niagara floral style yet the color choices used throughout are not the diagnostic color combinations usually associated with this floral style. The example in figure 8 is beaded on black velvet and the design motifs are very similar to those on the bag in figure 7 yet again, the diagnostic color combinations are not used throughout.

Figure 8 - Beaded bag on black velvet in the Niagara floral style. C. 1850. The color combinations are atypical.
Private collection.

Figure 9 - A floral bag beaded on silk with unusual color combinations on some of the flowers. The flowers are also depicted in various stages of blossoming, a technique that was associated with some Seneca beadworkers. Private collection.

The images that follow are a small sampling of more unusual bags that do not fit the standard diagnostic for the Niagara floral-style. I’ve seen hundreds of these unusual examples over the years and it’s obvious, even from a cursory examination of these bags, that Native beadworkers were not limiting themselves to this so-called four-color theory.

The possible evolution of these bags from the Seneca model described in the American Indian Art Magazine article cited earlier as well as the similarity of the design in the early Seneca bag (figure 4) and the photograph of what was likely a Seneca woman wearing a Niagara floral bag in figure 2 suggests that the style could have originated with the Seneca in the late 1830s or early 1840s. Within a very short period of time, and no doubt due to the bags’ popularity, other Haudenosaunee communities started making them.

Vast quantities of these bags were made and sold after 1845 and in all likelihood, commercial motives influenced the rapid dispersion of the style to other Haudenosaunee communities. These bags were pervasive, and the extent to which they were admired by Victorian women no doubt fueled the dissemination of the style throughout the region. The style had become so popular and widespread that mid-nineteenth century ladies magazines occasionally ran illustrated articles that described to their readers how they could make their own (see: Phillips 1998:219, figure 6.18).

Figure 10 - A circa 1850 Niagara floral bag with atypical color combinations used to delineate the flowers.
Private collection.

Figure 11 - An unusual treatment of the flowers on this circa 1850 floral bag. Private collection.

Figure 12 - A Niagara floral bags from the 1850s with atypical color combinations for the flowers.
Private collection.

Figure 13 - Another C. 1850 Niagara style bag
with atypical color combinations for the flowers.
Private collection.

Figure 14 - Circa 1850 with atypical color combinations.
Private collection.

Figure 15 - From the 1850s with atypical color combinations in some of
the floral motifs. Private collection.

Figure 16 - Very unusual color use and design on this early floral bag. The edge binding
is done in silk. Private collection.

Figure 17 - An early floral bag with blue/black and red/black bead combinations.
This 1840s bag also has a silk edge binding. There are 14 unique bead colors on this example.

Figure 18 - Daguerreotype (1843-1845).

Figure 18 illustrates the earliest known Niagara floral bag in a photograph. In this recently found image, the style of the young girl’s dress along with its tight sleeves, elongated bodice, and shallow V neckline date this rare image to the 1843-1845 period. Unlike many daguerreotypes from the mid-nineteenth century where the sitters wore their most fashionable outfits, these seem like plain folks. The older woman’s dress is very unfashionable for the period and was likely just a generic house/work dress with a shapeless, practical jacket. The bag must have been a prized possession.

Detail of the bag in figure 18.

References Cited

Allen, Franklin

1904 The Silk Industry of the World at the Opening of the Twentieth Century. Published by The Silk Association of America.

Brasser, Ted J.

1976 Bo’Jou, Neejee! Profiles of Canadian Indian Art. Published by the National Museum of Man. The National Museums of Canada.

Harding, Deborah

1994 Bagging the Tourist Market: A Descriptive and Statistical Study of 19th Century Iroquois Beaded Bags. Masters Thesis. Anthropology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Hovens, Pieter

2010 The Ten Kate Collection 1882-1888 in European Review of Native American Studies, Monograph 4. Series Editor: Christian F. Feest. National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands, ZKF Publishers.

Phillips, Ruth B.

1998 Trading Identities – The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast 1700-1900. University of Washington Press & McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Old Images of People with Iroquois Beaded Bags

2011-07-22T09:36:00.001-04:00

During the nineteenth century, ladies’ magazines like Godey’s Ladies Book, Peterson’s Magazine, Demorest’s and Harper’s Bazaar kept women abreast of Paris fashion trends and allowed the average woman the opportunity to venture into the fashion world of the elite and upper classes.

Joan Severa, Curator Emerita and costume history consultant for the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Museum wrote that

[t]he nineteenth century was in a very large part based on appearances and… there was a powerful drive towards a “proper” façade. It was of tremendous, almost moral significance during the nineteenth century that one appear cultured (Severa 1995: xv).

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of fashion in the nineteenth century.

“Fashion is extremely aristocratic in its tendencies,” wrote Mary P. Merrifield in 1854. “Every change emanates from the highest circles, who reject it when it has descended to the vulgar. No new form of dress was ever successful which did not originate among the aristocracy. From the ladies of the court, the fashions descended through all the ranks of society, until they at last died a natural death among the cast-off clothes of the housemaid” (Merrifield 1854).

Literally thousands of mid-nineteenth century photographs of stylishly dressed women, young and old, have survived and in a small number of them the sitter is holding or wearing a Haudenosaunee beaded bag. They testify to the prestige and the prevailing taste for Hodenosaunee beadwork during the middle decades of the nineteenth century and it speaks to the especially high regard they held for these purses, an appreciation that would contribute to the preservation of the beaded bags now so prized by collectors.

The transition from the old style of souvenir bags that were decorated with curvilinear and geometric designs to the Niagara floral style took place sometime in the early to mid-1840s, and examples of these bags are seen from time to time in daguerreotypes from this period.

The daguerreotype process, invented in 1839, was the first practical photographic method. It produced a sharp, positive image on a highly polished, silver-coated copper plate, but fell out of favor by 1860, replaced by the less expensive ambrotype. Introduced in 1854, the ambrotype process produced a negative image on a glass plate that could be viewed as a positive image by the addition of a black paper backing. It fell out of favor by the mid-1860s, replaced by the less expensive tintype and prints that were made on paper, such as cabinet cards and carte-de-visites. Daguerreotypes were in vogue for about twenty years and ambrotypes for at least ten years so their lifespan nearly parallels the peak production years of the Niagara floral style. Tintypes and prints produced on paper first appeared in the mid-1850s. Thus, there is some overlap in the photographic processes that were in use.

With a little effort, these early images can be accurately dated by the clothing styles worn by the subjects. In the early years of photography, having a portrait taken by the fashionable daguerreotype process was a grand event for which people wore the newest and most stylish outfit in their wardrobe. By studying nineteenth-century fashion trends an old photograph can often be dated to within a year or two of when it was taken.

For instance, in this early daguerreotype, a young woman wears a cartridge-pleated dress with a shortened waistline, a shirred, softly pleated front, a small collar of fine lace, and tight sleeves. These details, along with her hairstyle, suggest a circa 1847 date for this image. The long stems and ovate flowers on her Niagara-style bag indicate that even at this early date, the bilaterally symmetrical floral patterns were well developed into the recognizable Niagara style. The flap is still scalloped and a hint of scalloping can be seen along the edge of the bag.

In another daguerreotype of an unidentified middle-aged couple, the woman’s dress has a long, board-like bodice. It wasn’t until 1853 that a more comfortable corset appeared. Her somewhat plain white work collar and sleeve frills, the tight sleeves of her dress, and her hairstyle, with the heavy side wings of hair that are widened over the ears, indicate a date of circa 1850. Her Niagara style bag has large, ovate florals and long thick stems and a white bead edge fringe. The flap of the bag is more rectangular, and the bottom of the bag is rounded.

This daguerreotype of Henrietta and Harry Gires is dated 1852.The bag in this photograph appears to have a bilaterally symmetrical design, which points to an early date. The lower edge of the flap is curved, and there is a beaded fringe along the perimeter of the bag.

The old photos in the following images not only help to contextualize the Niagara style of souvenir bags but they also illustrate the diversity of design that existed within this early floral tradition. Literally thousands of these bags still exist, and though they all have stylistic similarities, no two are exactly alike.

The earliest known daguerreotype of someone with a Niagara style bag. Circa 1845.

Mid-to late 1850s daguerreotype.

Early to mid 1850s daguerreotype.

Mid - to late 1850s daguerreotype.

Circa 1850 daguerreotype.

Circa 1860 daguerreotype.

Early to mid -1850s daguerreotype - the extra expense paid to the photographer to hand color the bag testifies to its
importance to the sitter.

Daguerreotype - 1840s with a different style of Iroquois bag from the period.

Circa 1860 ambrotype. The style of the bag reflects the change going on in the Niagara style at this time. The ovate flowers from the earlier period have evolved into elongated leaf-like clusters and the long stems connecting the flowers have essentially dissapeared.

Another anbrotype from the early 1860s.

Another ambrotype from the early 1860s. The bags from this period had much more efficient designs and were not as elaborately beaded as those from the 1840s and 1850s.

Circa 1860 ambrotype with yet another style of Iroquois bag being made during that period. I've seen documented examples in this style that were collected from the Mohawk at Kahnawake (Caughnawaga).

Visit my website to see more historic Iroquois beadwork.

References Cited

Merrifield, Mary Philadelphia

1854 Dress as Fine Art, London (Reprinted from articles published the previous year)

Severa, Joan

1995 Dressed for the Photographer – Ordinary Americans & Fashion 1840 – 1900. The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio & London, England.

Niagara Falls and Tuscarora Beadwork

2011-05-31T12:49:00.000-04:00

During the last quarter of the eighteenth century, in the years following General John Sullivan’s 1779 “scorched earth” campaign against the British Loyalists and a group of partisan Haudenosaunee, some two thousand Iroquois refugees were settled along an eight-mile stretch of the road from Niagara Falls to Lake Ontario. The Tuscarora Wars and colonial slave hunters in North Carolina forced the Tuscarora to take refuge under the protection of the Iroquois Confederacy earlier in the century. They were eventually settled on a reservation just a few miles from Niagara Falls. For the Haudenosaunee, the aftermath of the war resulted, among other things, in a loss of access to vast areas of their traditional hunting grounds. Those who had supported the defeated British followed Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant to Canada where they were granted a tract of land along the Grand River. The war compelled the curtailment of their traditional lifestyle and forced many Haudenosaunee communities to find new ways to subsist. We may never know exactly when they began producing souvenir beadwork but the dating of early tourist material suggests it began soon after they were removed to reservations.

Circa 1860 Ambrotype taken at Prospect Point, Niagara Falls, NY

Travelers to the area were confronted by the presence of the Haudenosaunee and many actually sought them out. The traditional arts that existed prior to the American Revolution changed, and in many cases disappeared, to be replaced by the emergence of distinct commoditized styles that were sold primarily at Niagara Falls.

1751 Engraving of Niagara Falls from the Canadian Side

It was Niagara Falls that attracted travelers who would indirectly influence the production of souvenir material by creating a market for it. Ever since the first accounts of its majestic beauty and turbulent, untamed power, the Falls have captured the psyche of people from all over the world. The Catholic priest and Recollect missionary, Louis Hennepin, first published a description of the Falls in 1678. Before 1790, few if any Euro/Americans had settled on the lands of western New York. It wasn’t until after the Revolutionary War and the staggering loss of Haudenosaunee lands that inroads were made and settlements established. Niagara had long been used by the Indians as a center of trade and when commerce with non-Natives began, it emerged as the most significant trading center with the Great Lakes and points west.

19th Century trade card from the Prospect House hotel

As early as 1796, there were two hotels in the burgeoning village of Chippewa, just above the Falls, on the Canadian side. Because of its strategic location, Niagara quickly became a venue of commercial importance and a coveted gateway to the rich fur lands in the west. Engravings of the Falls sold briskly in the first half of the eighteenth century and many of the early paintings of Niagara were done by artist-soldiers who had been stationed in Canada.

By 1824, two more hotels had been built on the Canadian side so even at this early date, Niagara was a place bustling with visitors. Many of them were curious about the Indians they encountered and they were bringing home Indian-made souvenirs as mementoes of their trips.

Mohawks John Deer, his wife and daughter at the Falls - late 19th C.

Accounts from some of the earliest journals indicate that travelers to the area were taking home Indian souvenirs as early as the eighteenth century. For those making the journey, Niagara represented a pure and pristine environment, which was seen as healthful and invigorating but, just as the Falls became a symbol of America, the Indian became a symbol of the Falls and an icon of this untamed wilderness. To many, an authentic Indian souvenir had a romantic appeal. Christian Feest notes that some of the earliest souvenir items that were made by the Indians were models of cradleboards, toboggans, and canoes (Feest 2007-2:47-48). But not even the pristine natural beauty of the Falls could stop the developing commercialization of Niagara as an extravagant marvel for tourists.

No vacation to the Falls was complete without the requisite trip to the Indian reservation. In 1839, DeVeaux describes “…those places which it has become fashionable to visit, Old Fort Schlosser, up the river – the mineral spring – the Whirlpool, the next most interesting object, after the Falls – the Tuscarora Indian village” (DeVeaux 1839:53).

DeVeaux’s 1839 guidebook listed the Tuscarora Reservation as one of the area attractions where one could purchase souvenirs directly from the Indians. “They number only, at this time, 283 individuals. Their present principal chief is Thomas Chew, the son of an Englishman. Our party having arrived at the village, look into their wigwams; make such observations, and take such notes of the customs and manners of the inhabitants, as a short and hasty visit affords; purchase some articles of Indian manufacture; or, perhaps, seek an introduction to the venerable chief Sacarissa, who was a commissioned officer in the American army, in the revolutionary war” (DeVeaux 1839:110).

Detail from a pictographic map of Niagara Falls published in 1882 illustrating some points of interest

Circa 1870 stereo view of Dean's Metamora Indian Depot.
Formally Fox's Curiosity Shop where Indian souvenirs could
be purchased.

Nineteenth-century travelers were most likely to find the cherished Indian souvenirs they were seeking at Niagara Falls. The best views of the cataract were from Goat Island, but to get there a visitor would first have to cross the bridge to Bath Island, then “. . . ascend the bank, enter the toll-house, and pay the charge of twenty-five cents each; which gives the individual the privilege of visiting the island during his stay at the Falls, or at any time thereafter for the current year. They register their names, and look at the Indian and other curiosities, [in the Bath House that was operated by a Mr. Jacob] which are kept there for sale; and generally make some purchases, as remembrances of the Falls, or for presents to friends or children (DeVeaux 1839:56). [He goes on to say that] Niagara Falls has also become a mart for Indian curiosities. Of the same gentleman [Mr. Jacobs] may be obtained moccasins, worked with beads and porcupine quills. Indian work pockets, needle cases, war clubs, bark canoes, maple sugar in fancy boxes ornamented with quills, & c” (DeVeaux 1839:163).

One panel from a 1859 stereo view of Seneca women selling beadwork
at Niagara Falls.

In 1859, the British photographer William England photographed this group of Indian women making fancy beaded items at Niagara Falls. The descriptive text that accompanied this stereo view indicated the subjects were a group of Seneca’s that made their living from the manufacture and sale of fancy articles which England described as purses, pincushions, needle-books, moccasins and caps.

One panel from a circa 1870 stereo view of the bridge to Bath Island (view looking west). Dean's Metamora Indian Depot was located on the left, just beyond the end of the bridge.

This is the same site today, taken on a recent trip to Niagara Falls (view looking west).

One panel from a circa 1860 stereo view of Tugby & Walker's
variety store where Iroquois souvenirs could be purchased.

The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought more tourists to the Falls. By the 1840s the trade in Indian fancy beadwork was in full swing. Sometime before 1843, Theodore Hulett opened the The Old Curiosity Shop and his brother opened the Indian Shop to take advantage of the increased trade in Indian items. They published their first guidebook to the Falls in 1843 and it included the names of the tribes that were sending them beadwork to sell in their shops. In addition to the Tuscarora were the Seneca from the Tonawanda Reservation, near present day Akron, the Allegany Senecas from the Salamanca area, the Cattaraugus Seneca from present day Irving, New York as well as the Mohawks from the Montreal area.

Circa 1870 view of the same store after renovations.

Access to Goat Island was from the bridge located directly in front of Tugby and Walkers variety store, emporium and curiosity shop where one could purchase Indian souvenirs. Tugby was a local businessman whose enterprise dominated the riverfront across from Goat Island. The bridge first took you to Bath Island where you paid a toll of 25 cents to gain access to the larger Goat Island. Fox’s Curiosity shop, which opened in 1843, and later became Dean’s Metamora Indian Depot, and the Bath House were two places on this small island where you could purchase Indian souvenirs.

This is the east end view of the Bath Island bridge looking at the former site of Tugby store. In 1885 the Niagara appropriations bill was signed into law and the area around the Falls was turned into a state park.

One item that was acquired at the Bath House is the pincushion to the left. The back of this early piece, with paper patterns beneath the central floral design, has the following inked inscription on the back: “Bought at the Bath House on Bath Island, Falls of Niagara, Sept. 27, 1850.” There is also a name after the date but it’s illegible.
Bath Island was one of several islands in the Goat Island complex. The pincushion illustrated here was possibly made by Caroline Parker, her mother Elizabeth or someone else in their immediate beading group as a near identical example is illustrated in Lewis Henry Morgan’s Fifth Regsents Report to the state of New York, January 22, 1851. Caroline and her mother Elizabeth produced the majority of beadwork for Morgan and their work was illustrated in several of Lewis Henry Morgan’s reports to the State of New York. See: Tooker 1994: Fifth Regents Report, Plate 19 for a near identical example.

Two circa 1860 carte-de-visit's (CDVs) of tourist at Prospect Point.

In 1863, a local newspaper announced that “[t]hose who pass over the bridge spanning the rapids – and what visitor to the Falls will omit to do this! – should pass at the Indian store of Mr. Fox, at the toll-gate, and examine the endless variety of exquisitely wrought Indian work which he offers for inspection and sale. He has some articles which are entirely new – perfect miracles in the ingenuity of their design and beauty of workmanship” (Niagara Falls Gazette. July 15, 1863).

Another advertisement from the early 1860s announced the sale of beadwork at the Falls by the Six Nations Indians. They were the Haudenosaunee from the Grand River Reserve in nearby Brantford, Ontario and some of them sold directly at the Falls in the vicinity of Table Rock, on the Canadian side. They also had a retail outlet on the American side, located inside Tugby and Walker’s variety store. “Here Mr. Tugby has a full and complete collection of curiosities, articles representative of Indian life and manners, toys, bijouterie, fancy goods, and all similar products, such as visitors generally desire to select from in purchasing presents from Niagara Falls for friends at home” (Holder 1882:120).

Present day view of Luna Island where many Tuscaroras sold their
beadwork in the 19th century.

Once onto Goat Island visitors could follow the pathway to the right which took them to the American Falls and the bridge that crossed onto Luna Island. This small outcropping of rock between the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls was once covered with white cedar trees which were well suited to withstand the harsh winter conditions at the Falls. In the summer, the trees were filled with the nest of bald eagles and cedar waxwings. Since the nineteenth century, when the Tuscarora actively sold their beadwork there, the trees either died off or were removed by human activity.

Present day view of the American Falls taken from Luna Island.

I couldn't resist having my picture taken on this historic spot.

One panel from a circa 1870 stereo view of
Tuscarora women selling beadwork on Luna Island.

The name of prize-winning photographer George Barker (1844-1894) is synonymous with images of Niagara Falls. Around 1870 he took a rare series of photographs of a group of Tuscarora women selling beadwork on Luna Island. The Island (formally called Prospect Island) was renamed for the beautiful moonlit rainbows that were produced by the mist of the Falls and were visible to visitors during or near the full moon. These rainbows are rarely visible today because of the artificial lighting and decrease in the flow of water over the Cataract.
The lady on the left in this image is holding a small purse of the type that some collectors call a fist purse, because of its diminutive size and clenched fist shape. But contemporary Tuscarora beadworkers call them “barrel purses” and say that was what their ancestors called them as well. These are almost as prevalent in collections today as the Niagara floral style from the previous two decades and by 1870 the barrel purse had become one of several newly fashionable Indian bags. Barrel purses, unlike the flat Niagara floral-style bags, were three-dimensional objects constructed over stiff paperboard to achieve their shape.

Circa 1870 Tuscarora barrel purse with animal motifs.

Floral designs covered the surface of many barrel purses though more desirable examples were decorated with bird and animal motifs like this example with the squirrel and owl.

Below are several circa 1870 stereo views of Tuscarora women selling beadwork at Niagara Falls. In some of the views, the American Falls can be seen in the background. Except where noted, all were taken by photographer George Barker.

It's not clear who took the following stereo view. Printed on the front is Niagara Scenery by S. Davies. Saul Davies operated a shop on the Canadian side of the Falls where he sold souvenirs and Indian beadwork but it's not clear if he was also a photographer. The subject in this view is identified on the back as Satie Foote, and it's dated 1871. She may have been Tuscarora but this is a Canadian stereo view and there is no other identifying information.

Among the Tuscarora there are many beadworkers, or sewers as they prefer to call themselves, who are active today. Notable among them is Rosemary Rickard Hill. Rosemary grew up on the Tuscarora Reservation. As a child she learned to do beadwork at her mother’s side and they often sold their creations at the State Fair in Syracuse, and at Prospect Park, in Niagara Falls.

Her work was featured in Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life exhibit that toured several major museums in the northeast several years ago. She has since received numerous blue ribbons and other prestigious awards for her exceptional beadwork. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, the British Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian and she exhibits annually at the Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico and at other important venues.

Cabinet card dated August 9, 1873.

In 1906 Peter Porter, a wealthy land owner at the Falls reminisced:“For many years, Indian beadwork was one of the main attractions offered in the bazaars there. And the elder generation of visitors will recall the familiar sight of aged Indian squaws, and dusky Indian maidens, who daily, during the season of travel, sat at the various points along the route of the tourist on the steep banks of the road leading up to the rapids, on Luna Island, to old Terrapin Tower, and at various points around the Ferry House, and what is now Prospect Park, offering for sale, ... beadwork, pin cushions, moccasins, etc.

Often a papoose strapped to the board which formed the back of its picturesque but doubtless uncomfortable cradle leant up against the foot of a tree, or swung suspended from some low hanging branch, gazed stolidly at the pale faced visitor. The “Braves” at home then made the toy canoes, the bows and arrows, the quivers, the war clubs and tomahawks, which the squaws also disposed of to the tourist as souvenirs of Niagara.

Those “Squaw Traders” were a most picturesque feature of Niagara, and the fact that those descendants of a passing Race now seldom or never sit by the roadside and offer their wares directly to the visitor is a distinct loss to the artistic environment of the Cataract” (Porter 1906:71-73).

References Cited

DeVeaux, S.

1839 The Falls of Niagara or Tourist’s Guide to this Wonder of Nature, William B. Hayden, Buffalo. The Press of Thomas & Co.

Feest, Christian F

2007 German Collections from the American Revolution. In Three Centuries of Woodlands Indian Art, edited by J.C.H. King and Christian F. Feest.ZFK Publishers, Altenstadt, Germany

Holder, Thos

1882 A Complete Record of Niagara Falls and Vicinage Being Descriptive, Historical and Industrial; Containing a Complete Guide Book, Local History, Manufacturing Facilities, Biographical Sketches, Business Firms, etc. Niagara Falls: Published for the Author.

Porter, Peter A.

1906 Niagara: An Aboriginal Center of Trade. Niagara Falls: Peter Porter.

Tooker, Elizabeth

1994 Lewis H. Morgan on Iroquois Material Culture. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon and London.

19th Century Pictographic and Figurative Iroquois Beaded Bags

2011-05-14T07:16:00.000-04:00

Another important group of nineteenth century Haudenosaunee beaded bags are those that incorporate figurative or pictographic motifs. Arguably, they are some of the rarest examples of Northeast Woodland beaded bags.

This first bag is from a private collection and it was exhibited in the Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life exhibit that travelled to several museums a few years ago. The figures no doubt represent the twins from the Iroquois creation story. Private collection.

Another particularly significant example (illustrated below) is also decorated with two identical figures that may represent the good and mischievous twins from the Haudenosaunee creation story. Arthur Parker characterizes some representations of the double-curve motif, in Iroquoian decorative arts, as the “celestial tree” that was created by the Good Twin (Parker 1912:613). Between the figures on this bag are two large, inward turning curves with sun-like symbols at their centers. They may be artistic expressions of the “celestial tree” and the “world tree” that Parker speaks of.

The ambiguous design on the back of the bag is somewhat reminiscent of the carved faces seen on Haudenosaunee masks. In writing about the relationship between the Faces and the “world tree,” Parker says that

[t]his tree is mentioned in various ceremonial rites of the Iroquois. With the False Face Company. . . for example, the “Great Face,” chief of all the False Faces, is said to be the invisible giant that guards the world tree (Parker 1912:611).

Perhaps the design elements on this side are arranged to represent the “Great Face” that guards the world tree on the other side of the bag. The shape of the mouth, formed by the lower two diamonds, is flattened like spoons, for blowing ashes, and this is how the “Great Face” is sometimes depicted (see: Fenton 1987: plate 6-1).

This bag is a classic design that incorporates numerous elements of Haudenosaunee cosmology. It also has a Pop Art component to it, reminiscent of the work of contemporary artist Keith Haring. The subtle and intricate designs, the limited use of motifs that are thoroughly filled with beads, the silk inlays, and the large areas of negative space suggest a 1820s to 1830 date for this rare and exceptional piece. Private collection.

Dogs were the only domesticated animals that were traditionally kept by Woodland Indians and many images exist of them with their dogs. However, no mention is made in the literature about the indigenous practice of using a leash. Although depictions of Indians with their dogs appear in other souvenir art pieces, (a nineteenth century Tuscarora double wall pocked with three figures also depicts two off-leash dogs. See: American Indian Art Magazine, Vol. 24, Number 1, Winter 1998, page 39, figure 10), this may have been done to appeal to the Victorians’ fondness for pets. Additionally, one of the subjects on the bag below appears to be holding a basket or perhaps a lantern.

The design on the back is somewhat cryptic. Without the four birds, this motif could be interpreted as a flowering plant. The addition of the birds leaves little doubt that it was intended to represent a tree. However, it’s not the classic celestial or world tree with the single flower/sun surmounted on the crown. Possibly the maker intended it to be an interpretation of the “Great Tree of Peace.” Traditionally, the white pine, with its five needles, was the symbol of the Five Iroquois Nations, joined together as one confederacy. It was also the proverbial tree beneath which the Iroquois buried their weapons as a symbol of their growth in consciousness; as a people seeking peace and not war. But this tree has six branches. Perhaps the maker was indicating with her design that since the Tuscaroras was adopted into the confederacy that they were now the Six Iroquois Nations. The shape of the bag, with a scalloped flap and lower edge, is suggestive of the work of Caroline Parker. Circa 1840s. Private collection.

Another intriguing bag has what appear to be two figures holding hands. The negative space between them forms the shape of a heart. Adding to the mystery is the design inside the outline of the right-hand figure. The back of the bag has a representation of a large, daisy-like flower. Perhaps someone commission this bag for a spouse or a lover. Circa 1820s. Private collection.

Another intriguing bag was also displayed in the Across Borders exhibit. It depicts two figures dancing in a style that is quite similar to those on a coat of an Iroquois man portrayed in a late nineteenth century cabinet card (see below). The style of the bag indicates it is from the mid-nineteenth century. Private collection.

Late 19th century cabinet card depicting an Iroquois family group, likely Mohawks.

The beaver pelt top hat was part of the formal dress of many Northeast Woodland people during the mid-nineteenth century. The engraving below, published by M. Elias Regnault in 1849, depicts five Native people from the vicinity of Quebec. The two individuals on the far left are wearing beaver pelt top hats. Private collection.

There are several other nineteenth century prints and paintings that depict Native people wearing these hats but extant examples of bags with figures wearing a top hat are exceptionally rare. The figures in this piece typify the dress of two Natives from the period. In the enclosed space, between the stylized yellow-beaded pine tree motifs in the upper corners of this bag, is a central sun design. The solidly beaded figures suggest that this piece is from the 1840s. It may have originated in one of the Mohawk Reserves near Montreal, as similar pine tree motifs appear on other pieces attributed to the Mohawk. Private collection.

Animal motifs are seen on early Haudenosaunee beaded bags about as often as depictions of people. Although an elephant motif on a mid-nineteenth-century souvenir bag would appear incongruous, the Haudenosaunee beadworkers were, after all, savvy entrepreneurs. This is aptly demonstrated in this example, which was likely a commissioned piece. The design is a representation of the insignia for the 74th Regiment of Foot, the Argyll Highlanders, which fought in the Battle of Assaye, in western India, in 1803. The design on the right is the regiment’s official insignia and below it is a listing of the battles they fought in. On the bag, the number 74 can be seen stitched in beads above the elephant, as can the name of the historic battle they fought in. In the mid - to late 1830s, the 74th Regiment of Foot was stationed throughout the Caribbean, in Antigua, Granada, Barbados and St. Lucia. The regiment moved about these islands until 1841 when it proceeded to Quebec. They remained there until 1844, removing to Nova Scotia and embarking at Halifax for England, in March of 1845. A Haudenosaunee artist was likely retained to produce this piece for someone in that regiment, perhaps while on a trip to Montreal or Niagara Falls, and conceivably as a souvenir for a wife or loved one back home. The reverse side of the bag is virtually identical to the front. Likely made between 1841 and 1844, it’s a fine example that underscores the heavy use of solid bead fill on pieces from the early 1840s. From the collection of Richard Green.

The imagery in souvenir arts can have more than one meaning. To the Haudenosaunee, the eagle is a messenger from the Creator and as such is considered sacred. In Iroquois art, it’s often depicted perched over the great tree of peace, keeping a watchful eye on the Haudenosaunee homeland, prepared to warn people of any approaching danger. To some nationalistic Americans the eagle can symbolize their martial or hawkish nature. In each culture it denotes notions of power. In one culture that power is materialistic; in the other it’s spiritual. The intended message of the maker is unknown but certainly the imagery on this bag would appeal to both, albeit for different reasons. This rare bag is beaded on hide. The extended top is made of silk. The solidly beaded thunderbird and large floral motif on the reverse suggests a 1830s to 1840s date. The triangles along the perimeter of the bag may be an Iroquois identity marker as I have seen these on other pieces that were attributed to them. Private collection.

Another intriguing bag with a bird motif has what could be a representation of a snipe. The Iroquois Confederacy is composed of six nations with a total of nine clans. The clans, defined by specific animals, represent the land, the sky and the water. Both the Seneca and Tuscarora, prolific producers of early souvenir beadwork, had a Snipe Clan so there may be some intended cultural symbolism in the design of this piece. The beading style indicates an early date; likely pre-1830. Private collection.

Unfortunately, only a black and white image was available of this bag which is from the Eugene Thaw collection at the Fennimore Art Museum, in Cooperstown, NY. This very early bag (possibly from the first quarter of the nineteenth century) depicts what could be an eagle on one side and linear-zigzag and curvilinear motifs on the other. The design in the central panel on the side without the bird appears to have silk inlays. This is another rare design treatment on early Haudenosaunee beadwork.

This early nineteenth century beaded bag with a bird motif has linear designs and sun and diamond motifs which suggest it is from the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Private collection.

The League of the Five Nations was symbolically represented as a longhouse, with the Seneca at the western door and the Mohawks at the east. Besides functioning as a domicile, the longhouse was also emblematic of the Haudenosaunee political system, and the Nation chiefs were the posts which supported it. This rare bag could be a representation of a lodge or longhouse. In conceiving the formation of the Iroquois confederacy, the Peacemaker told the Five Nations that he envisioned them coming together as “one longhouse.” Pre-1830. Private collection.

Talismans and objects of personal power were no doubt common among the Iroquois, but it’s not known if insects had more than a cursory significance to them tribally. It’s intriguing how the Haudenosaunee artist who created this early bag configured the design elements into the shape of a wingless bug. Even the diamond design on the other side, with the double curve extensions at the corners, has an anthropomorphic feel to it. Pre-1830. From the collection of the Maine State Museum.

The design of this bag, perhaps inspired by a dream or an encounter with an arachnid, shows the clever use of the familiar diamond and double curve motifs to express something beyond the obvious, conceivably a personal connection to an animistic spirit or a spirit helper. Here, the familiar diamond and double curve motifs are arranged into the shape of what could be an insect and possibly a spider. Though many people in western culture have a fear of spiders they are culturally significant to many tribal people around the world. The Bhil and Mat people of central India have a great sense of connection between the living and the dead. They believe that spiders are the spirits of their ancestors. The Chibchas from the northeast highlands of Columbia and present day Panama are culturally similar to the Inca and central to their beliefs is that a departed soul uses the webs of spiders to cross the divide from the physical to the spirit world. In America, the Pueblo and Navajo people have a great tradition about Spider Woman, who was the first being in the world. She brought all life into existence and connected herself to each of her creations through the threads of her web. Circa 1820s. Private collection.

Portrait of Spider Woman by the author.

This very unusual figurative bag has a horse motif on one side. Likely Iroquois, it looks to be from the 1830s-1840s period. Private collection.

Another unusual bag with cryptic designs on both sides also has the addition of a deer. 1830s - 1840s. Private collection.

This early bag, likely from the first quarter of the nineteenth century, is from the Thaw collection at the Fennimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. One side has a turtle motif in the center. Likely Seneca.

Perhaps the most novel example of a figurative Northeast Woodland bag is one made in the shape of a house. Here again, the impetus may have been the entrepreneurial spirit of the artist or it could have been a commissioned piece. Part of the mystery is the late nineteenth-century Chinese silk lining, which is decorated with an embroidered bird. The beading style, and the bead colors used are atypical.

REFERENCES CITED

Fenton, William N.

1987 The False Faces of the Iroquois – The University of Oklahoma Press – Norman, Publishing Division of the University.

Parker, Arthur C.

1912 Certain Iroquois Tree Myths and Symbols in the American Anthropologist, Vol. 14

19th Century Iroquois and Wabanaki Beaded Hats

2011-04-29T18:09:00.000-04:00

Interactions between nineteenth century Wabanaki, Haudenosaunee and Euro Americans influenced the arts of Native America and prompted innovative changes, including creative innovations in fashion that appealed to Victorian sensibilities. Native imaginations were spurred by the emerging tourist economy that developed in the early nineteenth century around Niagara Falls and the tribes nearest the Falls, such as the Tuscarora and the Seneca, developed a wide range of items which they sold to area travelers. These ideas spread quickly throughout the northeast by way of long standing intertribal trading networks that had been in place for centuries.

During this period both the Haudenosaunee and Wabanaki developed a number of hat styles that captivated both Victorian men and women. Of these the Glengarry cap or bonnet, which was derived from traditional Scottish Highland dress, was perhaps the most popular design. Art historian Ruth Phillips wrote that this style “illustrated yet another type of inter-cultural configuration. Here the overall form is derived from a European rather than a Native prototype, one made familiar by military uniforms worn by British soldiers in Canada. By dressing her sons up in Scottish costume in the 1850s, Queen Victoria started a fashion for Glengarrys as children’s wear in Britain and the colonies” (Phillips 1990:29).

It’s certainly an oversimplification to think of this material simply as “tourist art” because these items were used by Native people as well.

Charles E. Hanson wrote that “[t]he Glengarry was enthusiastically adopted by many Highlanders about 1800 to supplant the traditional flat blue bonnet. It was a compact and comfortable piece of head gear, its dark blue color enlivened by hanging ribbons at the back and a bright red pom-pom on the top. Glengarry bonnets were just as popular among the traders [as] their employers… Thousands of Glengarries were also purchased and worn by the Indians of southern Canada and the Great Lakes region. No doubt they received varying degrees of embellishment with ribbon work, colored quills and beads…” (Hanson 1977:7).

Hudson Bay Company trade ledgers indicate that large quantities of these hats were imported for the Indian trade. Iroquois and Wabanaki craftswomen transformed many of these into colorful items that were richly embroidered with beads, moosehair and ribbon work and they were quite popular in the second and third quarters of the nineteenth century.

This first Glengarry (10.5 inches long y 5.3 inches wide) is decorated with dyed moosehair. It’s embroidered on brown velvet and has a red silk cord edge trim and a red silk lining. It is very similar to one featured in Pleasing the Spirits by Douglas C. Ewing (next image) that is identified as Huron, circa 1820. Private collection.

C. 1820 Huron Glengarry hat decorated in moosehair

This mid-nineteenth Iroquois Glengarry hat is in the classic Niagara Floral style, with large, ovate flowers and long, thick stems. This example has an 1852 date on the inside. Private collection.

Another classic example of a Iroquois Glengarry. This extravagantly beaded example, with a symmetrical design on the top, is composed of smaller flowers than the previous example. The treatment of the flowers and stems is similar to those on a bag in Brooklyn Children's Museum that is dated 1849. Private collection.

Another early example of a Niagara floral style hat (late 1840s to early 1850s). Private collection.

The very long stems on these hats is an early feature seen exclusively on Iroquois work. As time progressed, the stems got shorter and the flower designs became more abstract in their form. By the 1860s, the recognizable floral forms of the 1840s and 1850s had all but disappeared. Private collection.

This example is somewhat earlier than the examples above. The curvilinear or celestial dome motif along the perimeter of the top panel is similar to that on a beaded bag the collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, #111-1-1176. The bag in the CMC was collected locally in 1841. This example has a silk ribbon edge binding (usually an early dating marker) and the side panels each have three beaded birds. Private collection.

Another early example of an Iroquois Glengarry. This one is beaded on a Navy blue velvet and has a red silk ribbon edge trim. (1830s-1840s). Private collection.

A very rare ruby Ambrotype of a young man wearing an Iroquois Glengarry. The subjects are identified as William Miller (20 years old) and his sister Mary (18years old). Mid to late 1850s. Private collection.

Mid-nineteenth century Iroquois Glengarry with a beaded bird. Some contemporary Tuscarora beadworkers refer to these beaded birds as Carolina parakeets, the extinct birds that once lived in their North Carolina homeland before moving north. A similar example in the Rochester Museum and Science Center (Item number: 94.57.1) came with an old note indicating it was collected at the Tonawanda (Seneca) Reservation in Western, New York. Private collection.

Another nice example of an Iroquois Glengarry hat with a bird motif. Mid-nineteenth century. Private collection.

Iroquois - (mid-1850s to early 1860s). Private collection.

Wabanaki examples of Glengarry hats are not as common as the Iroquois examples. This Wabanaki Glengarry is from the collection of the Maine State Museum. The motif on the side panel is a cannon mounted on a boat. They don't get much better than this. Third quarter on the nineteenth century.

Another rare example of a Wabanaki Glengarry. As a general rule, the designs on Wabanaki work are typically more symmetrical than those seen on Iroquois work. Third quarter on the nineteenth century. Private collection.

Another classic example of a mid-nineteenth century Iroquois Glengarry. Private collection.

A tintype from the 1860s of a young woman wearing a classic example of an Iroquois Glengarry in the Niagara floral style. Private collection.

Another example of an Iroquois Glengarry but in a different style from any of the previous ones. The shape of the flower, (illustrating them in various stages of blooming) is characteristic of work that was done by Caroline Parker, a Seneca beadworker who married Tuscarora chief John Mountpleasant. She was quite noted for her skills as a beadworker. A Google search will bring-up more information about her. This piece is circa 1850.

Some of these hats may have been designed with a specific function in mind. Style-conscious men wore formal indoor caps from the sixteenth through the late nineteenth centuries. In the mid-nineteenth century a new, soft form know as a “smoking cap” became all the rage. The shape it took was a cross between the fashionable pillbox and the Turkish fez. They were often decorated with floral imagery and were worn to prevent the hair from smelling of tobacco.

This Victorian Smoking Cap is from an 1857 edition of Godey's Lady's Book .

The online version of Victoriana Magazine reports that “[m]any of the lady’s fashion publications of the nineteenth century devoted pages to fancy designs for at home fashions for the refined Victorian gentleman – house robes, slippers, and especially smoking caps. A smoking cap or lounging cap was popular as informal gentleman’s wear from the late 1840s through the 1880s. They were originally worn to keep the head warm in drafty rooms but continued to be in style long after improvements in heating eliminated their necessity. The smoking cap was the perfect gift for a young lady to embroider for her fiancé or for a wife to create for her husband.”

Besides the beaded Glengarry, other hat styles were popular with Iroquois and Wabanaki beadworkers. There was the “cap style,” a form which generally incorporated a visor, and there was what is sometimes called the “priest style,” a Turkish fez-like design which often had a band along the bottom that was decorated with a pointed diagonal pattern that extended along the circumference of the hat.

A beautiful circa 1850 example of an Iroquois cap with a visor. The floral designs are in the classic Niagara floral style. Private collection.

This mid-nineteenth century example is constructed much like the Glengarry's above. There is a top and two side panels but additionally this one has a visor. Private collection.

Another example of a mid-nineteenth century Iroquois cap. Private collection.

This example is Mi'kmaq. It's illustrated in Trading Identities by Ruth Phillips. In her description of this late-nineteenth century cap, professor Phillips writes: "This hat, whose horizontal tabs and vestigial brim are modeled after a Victorian sportsman's cap, was made by Mary Ann Geneace or Richibucto, New Brunswick. It's a fine example of the Mi'kmaq preference for building rich floral patterns of solid blocks of color rather than employing the zones of monochromatic shading used by Iroquois beadworkers." The hat is from the New Brunswick Museum, St. John.

This hat is similar to the previous example though the beads used are smaller than those used in the Greneace example so this hat might be a little earlier, possibly from the 1860s. Private collection.

Another fine example of a Mi'kmaq cap with a visor. Third quarter of the nineteenth century.

This outstanding Iroquois example also has horizontal tabs like the Mi'kmaq examples above and it is constructed in a similar fashion. This cap is circa 1850 and at least ten to fifteen years earlier than the Mi'kmaq examples so this style may have originated with the Iroquois.

Following are several examples of both Iroquois and Wabanaki hats in what is sometimes called the "priest style." These are similar in shape to the Turkish fez smoking caps described earlier and they often had a band along the bottom that was decorated with a pointed diagonal pattern that extended along the circumference of the hat.

This Iroquois example in the Niagara floral style is circa 1850. Private collection.

Another example from the early 1850s in the Niagara floral style. Private collection.

An early four-panel Iroquois example with a different floral treatment. Circa 1840s. Private collection.

This six-panel Iroquois hat is beaded in the Niagara floral style. Circa 1850. Private collection.

This early (1820s-1840s) six-panel hat has three red broadcloth panels and three that are black velvet. The design in the beaded band could be a representation of the Iroquois celestial dome above the earth tree and the stylized crown on each panel suggest it could have a Canadian origin. Private collection.

Another fine example of a four-paneled Iroquois hat. The bilaterally symmetrical design in each panel suggest an early date. Possibly from the 1840s. Private collection.

The floral motifs on this example are similar to those on one of the hats above. Possibly from the 1840s. Private collection.

This Wabanaki example (possibly Maliseet) is from the Main State Museum collection. Third quarter of the nineteenth century.

Another Wabanaki example from the Maine State Museum collection. Third quarter of the nineteenth century.

Another beautiful example of a Wabanaki hat. The leaf motifs on Wabanaki work are often depicted in the shape of a heart. On this example, the beading on the leaf motifs is a form of embossed or raised beadwork. Third quarter of the nineteenth century. Private collection.

This last example is from the Peabody Essex Museum collection. It's a child cap that is attributed to the Penobscot. Mid-nineteenth century.

References Cited

Phillips, Ruth B.

Moccasins Into Slippers – Woodlands Indian Hats, Bags, and Shoes in Tradition and Transformation. Published in Northeast Indian Quarterly, Winter 1990.

Trading Identities - The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900. Published by University of Washington Press and McGill-Queen's University Press. 1998

Hanson, Jr., Charles E.

The Beaded Glengarry in The Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, Volume 13, Spring 1977, Number 1.

Iroquois Beadwork in Old Photographs

2011-04-22T17:13:00.001-04:00

Addendum

I’ve added some additional images to this section. You can find them below in the addendum.

You can see more exquisite examples of Iroquois beadwork on my website:
http://www.gerrybiron.com/

Part of the appeal that these old photographs hold for us is that it puts the beadwork in context. These were the people that were buying it and the fact that so much of it has survived indicates how admired it was. Additionally, by dating an old photograph we can also date the beadwork that is displayed in the image.

In this circa 1860 ambrotype, the young woman is holding a diminutive purse that is similar to the one directly below her image. This style of purse may have originated with the Mohawk as there is an image of a similar purse in the research files of the Iroquois Museum, in Howes Cave, New York with a note that it was acquired at Caughnawaga, circa 1860.

This next image is a circa 1880 tintype. The lady is holding what is generally referred to as a "box purse" because of their boxlike shape and because many of them also had the word "box" stitched in beads on the lid. The design on her purse appears to be a clover-leaf motif. The box purse immediately below this image is a similar example.

Many of the box purses were decorated with floral and leaf motifs but finer examples often had bird or animal motifs. This example is likely Mohawk and circa 1900.

Another style of diminutive purse that was being made at this time is generally referred to by the Tuscarora as a "barrel purse." In this hand-colored, circa 1870 tintype a child can be seen holding one. This particular example was likely Tuscarora. A similar purse, though more elaborately beaded, can be seen directly below this image.

This purse has "From Niagara Falls" beaded on the flap and an owl and squirrel motif on the back. Circa 1880.

This CDV was taken in London, England. It's dated 1880. The young girl is holding a Tuscarora barrel purse.

This is a late 19th century cabinet card of a young girl with a barrel purse. This example, which is more elaborately beaded, is in the high style of raised beadwork that is usually attributed to the Mohawk. A similar barrel purse is shown beside the image.

These are two circa 1860 ambrotypes. The young ladies are holding examples of a Niagara floral style beaded bag. More on the Niagara Floral Style

The two bags below the images are similar to those depicted in the photographs and date to the same period.

This is a circa 1850 daguerreotype and the young lady is holding an Iroquois bag with a heart motif.
More on Iroquois Bags with a Heart Motif

The bag directly below this photograph is similar to the one in the image.

In this circa 1850 daguerreotype the lady is holding a very rare type of Huron purse that was made from birchbark and decorated with dyed moosehair. Stylistically, it is similar to the one illustrated below the image.
The one in red is decorated on wool cloth and similarly decorated in moosehair. It is in the collection of the Horniman Museum in London and it was illustrated in Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900, plate 15 by Ruth Phillips.

In this circa 1910 real photo postcard the woman on the left is holding a purse with an animal motif. The beading style suggests the piece is Mohawk.

In this circa 1920 photograph the young girl is holding the very purse that is illustrated on the right. This piece is Tuscarora.

ADDENDUM

Non-Native women, especially those of lower socioeconomic classes, regarded the beadwork that Iroquois artists produced as having cultural and aesthetic value and also as important signifiers that they associated with the elite and upper classes. Studio sessions, especially those with small town photographers, were affordable to most in the middle class as the literally millions of old images that have survived will testify. Beaded items made by Iroquois women were cherished items and they added charm to a photograph that would otherwise be a commonplace image. In so doing, the sitter acknowledged the sense of self that they associated with the beadwork and their appreciation of the art form.

These two tintypes from the1870s-1890s period feature sitters that are wearing a beaded Iroquois cap. Their caps are very similar to the example depicted below the image.

This early 1860s carte-de-visite features a young boy wearing what is sometimes called a "priest style" hat. It's made up of six individual panels and is very similar to the example shown below. He is also wearing Iroquois moccasins and a Niagara floral style beaded bag. Photographer: S.J. Thompson, Albany, New York.

Old images of Iroquois people are occasionally found with them wearing examples of their beadwork. I did an earlier posting of a number of turn of the century postcards of Goldie Jamison, a Seneca who was wearing a beaded bag. This particular image is a circa 1850 daguerreotype of Caroline Parker a Seneca from the Tonawanda reservation in western New York.
The beaded bag she is wearing in this image was illustrated in the third regents report (1849) for the state of New York that featured examples of her beadwork (the bag directly below the image).

This is a tintype from the 1860s with a young woman wearing an Iroquois Glengarry hat decorated in the Niagara floral style. She may be Native but there is no identifying information with the image.
Her moccasins are also decorated with floral designs. Her beaded bag is unusual and may not be Indian made.

No photographer or location indicated though it came from an estate just outside Buffalo, NY. A similar hat to the one she is wearing is shown below the image.

In this exceptional image, a family of Mohawks can be seen seated before a display of their beadwork. The hanging whisk broom holder directly above the woman’s head is dated 1897, in beads. The designs on the man’s coat depict a lion and a unicorn. These are old Scottish and British heraldic representations and as such, suggest a British tie-in. In 1860, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, visited the Grand River Reserve in Brantford, Ontario. Nine years later, the young Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught visited there and was appointed an honorary chief. So there may be a partisan connection between these events and the symbols on the man’s jacket. At the very least the heraldic icons imply a Canadian connection.

No photographer or location is indicated but possibly from the Grand River Reserve.

Goldie Jamison Conklin, a Seneca from the Allegany Reservation

2011-04-16T20:17:00.002-04:00

See the Addendum at the bottom of this posting for some new information on Goldie.

This posting will feature a number of old postcard images of Goldie Jamison Conklin, a Seneca of the Heron Clan, from the Allegany Reservation, in Western New York. In most of these images Goldie is wearing a beaded bag, presumably of her own manufacture. Records indicate that she was born in Salamanca, New York on November 30, 1892 and died in 1974. Her parents were Jacob J. Jamison & Eliza D. Jamison. She was baptized at the St. Andrews Church in Irving, New York on July 7, 1921.

For some undetermined period of time she worked as a model for the Cattaraugus Cutlery Co. of Little Valley, New York, as some of the postcards are advertisements for the company’s line of “Indian Brand” knives.

Goldie’s Seneca name was Ah-Weh-Eyu which means Pretty Flower.

Most of the images appear to have been taken by Jesse Lynn Blessing of The Blessing Studio, Salamanca, New York. He was the son of J. H. Blessing who was born around 1850 and died in 1933 in Salamanca, New York. Jesse took over the photography studio from his father and retired in 1945. Except were noted, all the images are circa 1910 real photographic postcards.

This first image is an advertising postcard for the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company. It's postmarked Nov. 4, 1912. The printed advertising text on the back reads: I expect to call on you on or about Friday evening, November 8th with a full line of Cattaraugus "Indian Brand" cutlery. If you will keep this card in sight and hold your cutlery order for me, I will send you with your order a beautiful 10 x 14 photograph of this "Cattaraugus" Indian Princess.

This was the 11 x 14 photographic premium that the company sent you of Goldie.

A hand-written, period note on the back of this postcard reads: Goldie Jemison [sp] in Costume, niece of the interpreter. I killed three big ones up in the hills in Salamanca. This girl tied the ribbon on them. Will send you a nice hide in a few days and you can put it in your den. E.W. J.

In a number of these images she is either holding a painted bow or there is one at her feet. The style of the bow is either Modoc, Hupa or Miwok from northern California. It may have been a ceremonial dance bow though some sources indicate it was a hunting bow. It appears to be the same bow in all the images and might have been a prop that was owned by the photographer that took most of these photographs.

A close-up of Goldie's beaded bag. The different shades of grey in the fringe suggests that multi-colored beads were used to make it.

This postcard is unused. The bow at her feet was used in several of the postcards in this series.

This postcard is postmarked August 2, 1910.

This postcard is postmarked June 2, 1909. A hand-written note on the back reads: Dear Little George Frederick - We are sleeping in Salamanca tonight. In the morning we go to Jamestown there to Lawtons Station. Hope you are well and having a good time. Love to all the youngsters and some smacks from Uncle Paul and Aunt Anna.

It was mailed to an address in Ohio.

This is an unused advertising postcard from the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company. The printed advertising text on the back reads: Never before have we shown such a splendid line of cutlery as this year. Greater assortment, better values and lots of new things. It will pay you to hold your order until you have seen the Cattaraugus "Indian Brand" cutlery. I expect to call about ___________. Keep this card. It has value for you. Yours truly, R.D.R. Sullivan.

The bag in this image is missing the flap and suggests that it's construction may have been concurrent with her modeling career.

This is a printed advertising postcard for the company. No date but looks to be circa 1910.

An unused card of Goldie. In 2003, I painted a portrait of Goldie, titled Made of Thunder that was exhibited in conjunction with the beadwork exhibit by the same name. This was the image of her that I used as my model. Her portrait is illustrated below.

The most famous legend in Niagara Falls is that of the Maid of the Mist and the Thunder God Hinum, who was believed to live behind the Falls. In an apocryphal version of this myth, an Indian maiden is sacrificed annually by sending her over the cataract in a canoe, laden with fruit to appease Hinum.

In my portrait of Goldie, she is represented in a symbiotic relationship with the Falls, as a Native artist attuned to her surroundings and one proud of her heritage. From her waist belt she wears a beaded bag of her own manufacture. The bag that hangs from her neck has a large, central heart motif that is often seen in Iroquois work.

This postcard was postmarked from Salamanca, NY in 1914. A hand-written note on the back reads: Dear Hazell, I received your card about the pictures of "Creation." I always go home on Sundays so was not here the first day they (the Indians) were here and didn't find out where they were until after they had gone. The posters that were around didn't tell where they were being shown. I was very sorry to have missed them and will try and see them if I can. Thanks for sending the card anyway. Love, Harriette.

An unused advertising postcard from the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company. The printed advertising text on the back of this card reads: Don't lose this card. It is valuable to you. There is a beautiful photograph (10 x 14) of this "Cattaraugus" Indian maiden at the home office, and if you will call my attention to this card when i call on ________ I can get the photograph sent with your order.

With Cattaraugus Cutlery Co., Little Valley, N.Y., makers of the celebrated "Indian Brand" cutlery.

An unused postcard of Goldie. Circa 1908.

This postcard was postmarked in Salamanca, NY on June 15, 1911. A note on the back of the card reads: Hello C.L., Some class to these people, don't you think so? Had a swell time last night. Your old friend, Jim. Mailed to an address in Pennsylvania.

This last card is of a historical parade in Salamanca. Goldie is standing on the horse drawn float in the foreground. The photographer's blind stamp on the back says: Photo by Ralph J. Eddy, Salamanca, N.Y. Beneath this image are two additional detail views.

Addendum

After I did this posting on Goldie, I was contacted by Jim Conklin, her grandson. Jim was born in 1949 and his earliest memories of Goldie were of an older woman, "Grandma Conklin," and the last time he saw her was in 1966.

Jim wrote me that he knew very little about his grandparents. “Goldie married Charles Conklin around 1912. My oldest uncle, Chester (Chet) was born in 1913. My dad, Robert, was the second child, born 11/17/18. Four more sons followed: twins Carl and Earl (1928), George, and Charles Jr. They lived in Irving, NY, and later moved to Silver Creek, NY, where they lived on a small farm during the years my family visited them on the reservation. I didn't realize it as a child, but my grandparents were rather poor, as were most people on the reservation. My father joined the Marines in October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of war in Europe. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and spent the war years in the Pacific. While home on leave in late 1944 - early 1945, he married my mother, Marilyn, and returned to the Pacific. If not for the atomic bombings, he probably would have been involved in the invasion of the Japanese mainland. My grandfather died around 1960, and my father died from burns suffered in an industrial accident in February, 1972. I last visited the reservation on a whim in 1977. Goldie had died, and I didn't know if any of my uncles could still be located. I went to my grandparents' home and found that my uncle Earl had opened a bait shop there. He gave me the photos of Goldie (the hand colored image above). I moved to the Denver area in 1978, and never returned to the reservation. A family friend who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs had kept in touch with my uncles for many years, but lost touch about 15 years ago. I doubt that any of them are still living…Goldie always greeted us with hugs and smiles, telling us we were ‘such good-looking children.’”

The Heart Motif on Historic Iroquois Beaded Bags

2011-04-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

Implicit in the thinking of many native tribes is that objects have an inherent sprit or soul associated with them. When considering historic Northeast Woodland beaded bags, do we view them solely as inanimate objects made to be sold as souvenirs or, do they contain within them something more; perhaps the protective spirit or essence of the plants and other sacred designs depicted on their surface? Aboriginal art objects are often seen in isolation but the designs on beaded bags had a specific meaning to the artists who created them. Not only did they have cultural meaning but they were also a piece of someone’s heart and soul.

There is always a risk in assigning a specific meaning to a motif, but some designs appear over and over again and are likely rooted in the culture of the Northeast Woodland people.

Notwithstanding, our appreciation of the beaded souvenir bag can be enhanced with a basic understanding of the iconography that appears on them. For more information on Iroquois beaded bags see the Made of Thunder collection.

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

Bags with a Heart Motif

Like the pictographic examples (to be covered in a later posting), bags incorporating a heart are uncommon. The heart motif in Iroquois art first appeared as a metaphor on the Hiawatha (wampum) Belt, which is considered the formative record of the League of the Haudenosaunee. Each of the four squares on this belt represents the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga and the Oneida. The central motif symbolically represents the Onondaga, the heart of the Haudenosaunee nation. If the heart or any of its constituent parts is harmed, all five Nations were affected.

The original meaning of the heart motif on souvenir bags is still clouded in mystery but its symbolism might be related to silver brooches that were popular with Iroquois women during the eighteenth century. “The heart shaped brooch has been called the national badge of the Iroquois because of its popularity among them. It is found in both single and double forms, often surmounted by a crown. The design is thought to have come to North America from Scotland, where it was a popular love token and betrothal symbol. The ‘Luckenbooth’ brooch, as it was known in Scotland, may have been introduced by British-trained silversmiths such as Robert Cruickshank or James Hanna. Another possibility is that the Indians requested the brooch after seeing it worn by Scottish traders and settlers” (Fredrickson and Gibb 1980:53).

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

Arthur Parker reports that in Europe, the earliest Luckenbooth brooches that were made in the shape of a heart were manufactured as early as the seventeenth century. “They were mostly used as luck tokens, or betrothal gifts, and the choice of the heart shape… is sufficiently obvious” (Parker 1910:354). Many were made by Iroquois silversmiths who found their inspiration in European models, and the Iroquois continued fabricating them until at least the 1860s. “Any brooch pinned to the garment of a child was regarded by the Scotch as an efficient charm against witches…When the Iroquois silversmiths copied the Scotch patterns they left off many things that were common in the original patterns and interpreted the design as their own education, environment, or customs dictated” (Parker 1911:285).

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

The use of silver brooches as charms to ward off evil spirits was also part of Native peoples’ pre-contact religious beliefs. Additionally, they may have also seen the heart broach as a symbol of tribal identity as they were quite popular with Iroquois women in the eighteenth century. It was believed that the metal’s luminosity, especially when used as a personal adornment, constituted a power that reflected or blocked evil spirits. Whether this is the intended significance of the heart motif on souvenir bags is unknown.

The Seneca have legends about these brooches. One relates that “…the shining ornaments are the scales of an under-water fish-man who loved a maiden and lured her to his lake each day by a gift of a scale until they became a charm that drew her into the water and to her lover” (Parker 1910:355).

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Collection of the Abbe Museum.

In all probability, some of the designs found on early beaded bags relate to a particular dream experience known only to the beader, enhancing its transcendent nature to the maker. Since revealing the precise meaning of a vision was to forfeit some of the powers it conferred, our understanding of the significance of many traditional designs may forever be clouded in mystery.

Iroquois beaded bag - dated 1842. Collection of Richard Green.

The provenance for this exceptional piece indicates that it was once owned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who gave it to a Miss Priscilla Green, of Scalby Nabs, in Yorkshire, England. Miss Green was a traveling preacher and in a reference to one of her sermons, Longfellow described her voice rising up “as if on angels’ wings.” The inside of the bag bears the date 1842. The design incorporates many areas of solid bead fill, a prominent feature on purses from the early 1840s. Earlier pieces incorporated curvilinear and geometric designs without the use of solid bead fill.

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

Another beautifully designed bag is decorated with a large heart motif. The artist who created this piece used a very refined color palette in her design. The pleasing color combinations along with the curvilinear bead strings that connect the smaller hearts to the larger one are elegantly balanced within a hexagonal enclosure. The functional flap is decorated with bilaterally symmetrical strawberry leaf motifs. It’s certainly one of the masterpieces of early Haudenosaunee souvenir art.

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

This splendid early bag with a large heart as its focus incorporates a pair of inward turning helix curves to form the shape of the heart. The use of the double-curve to suggest a heart may be a Haudenosaunee identity marker as I’ve seen it used this way on a number of souvenir bags. Two small sun or star motifs are placed on either side of the heart while two more flank the large sun on the flap. The organic design on the back is atypical. It could be an early representation of a floral motif, or perhaps it has a cosmic or dream-inspired genesis.

This 1850s daguerreotype is a superb early image of a child holding a Haudenosaunee bag with a heart motif.

Below is a sampling of more Haudenosaunee bags with a heart motif.

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s. Private collection.

Iroquois beaded bag, possibly Seneca - 1820s - 1830s. Private collection.

Iroquois beaded bag - 1840s. Private collection.

This early, four paneled, Iroquois (possibly Seneca) drawstring reticule is from the first quarter of the 19th century. It has a silk extended top and heart motifs are depicted on three of the four panels. Private collection.

The crown and shield motif on the back of this Iroquois beaded bag suggests that it possibly has a Canadian origin. 1820s-1830s.

Private collection.

This image is presumably of an Iroquois wearing an old-style bag. Although this is a circa 1907 real photo postcard, the bag pictured is made in a much earlier style. A heart is depicted on the flap and the large, tri-lobed device on the face of the bag has two helix coils flowing from the top in the form of a double-curve motif. This card is part of a series of postcards that were taken at Otsego Lake, near Cooperstown, New York. Cooperstown was named after the family of James Fennimore Cooper who used Lake Otsego and the surrounding countryside for the setting in his books. In 1907 Cooperstown held its Centennial Celebration and these postcards document an historic reenactment connected to that event.

Several other early-twentieth century images exist of Indians wearing old-style bags that appear to be newly constructed. They are generally larger than the earlier nineteenth century bags and their designs, in comparison, are efficient and economical with less complex surface ornamentation. This bag may be contemporary to the image and was possibly derived from an earlier model, to be used as a prop for this event.

This 1840s Iroquois beaded bag is done in the Parker Style. Private collection.

An Iroquois (possibly Seneca) beaded bag with an extended silk top. 1820s. Private collection.

This early Iroquois (possibly Seneca) beaded bag has a beaded fringe; a very rare treatment on souvenir bags. 1820s - 1830s.

This Iroquois (possibly Seneca) beaded bag had an opening along one side that revealed an old newspaper on the inside, between the bag face and the lining that was no doubt used to stiffen the bag during construction. It was dated 1822. Private collection.

An Iroquois bag with an extended top. 1830s - 1840s. Private collection.

Iroquois (possibly Seneca) beaded bag - 1830s - 1840s. Private collection.

An Iroquois (possibly Seneca) beaded bag with opposing heart motifs. 1820s. Private collection.

This is a Wabanaki bag in the familiar vase or inverted keyhole shape. The leaves that decorate the surface of Wabanaki bags are often depicted in the shape of a heart though it's unusual to see the heart motif as a central design feature. From the second half of the nineteenth century. Private collection.

References Cited

Fredrickson, N. Jaye and Gibb, Sandra

1980 The Covenant Chain – Indian Ceremonial and Trade Silver. A catalog to a travelling exhibition of the National Museum of Man. Published by the National Museum of Canada / Ottawa.

Parker, Arthur C.

1910 The Origin of Iroquois Silversmithing in American Anthropologist, New Series, Vo. 12, No. 3, July-September.

1911 Additional Notes on Iroquois Silversmithing in American Anthropologist, New Series, Volume 13.