Until the 18th century, beads were mainly used to ornament personal garments. In the 1790s, Haudenosaunee bead workers began sewing designs onto pincushions, mirrors, and other small objects to be traded to non-natives. In the 1850s Haudenosaunee bead workers developed an original style of raised bead working. The beads were sown in an overlapping pattern, until the pattern was raised about a quarter of an inch off of the fabric. Haudenosaunee beadwork remained a small business until the 1880 New York State Fair where raised beadwork was exhibited to the public. By the 1890s, the beadwork had become a common New York souvenir. By this point new colors of velvet had been introduced, and glass beads came in red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Calico was used as a backing and the interior was stuffed with sawdust and natural plant fibers.[1]
Tourists from all over the world traveled to New York to purchase a piece of “authentic artwork, straight from the Indians.”[2] The designs varied from simple patterns to motifs of flowers and animals. These nature symbols appealed to the non-Native population at the tail end of the Romantic Period. Beadwork was the one of the only traditional art forms that survived the reservation system due to continuing commercial demand.. Bead workers have been considered to be the keepers of the keepers of the culture.[3] Some were viewed as craft workers, churning out bead work in a production line, while others used beadwork to create true art, each piece unique and carefully thought out by the artist in order to carry out a concept.
The tradition of beadwork of North Eastern Native Americans precedes the Haudenosaunee confederacy itself. The earliest beads found in the New York region are dated to be over ten thousand years old. Prior to European contact, the Haudenosaunee created beads using bone, stones, shells, clay, and other natural resources. Using string made from animal sinew, beads were carefully sewn into jewelry, onto traditional regalia, and into belts. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish began importing Venetian glass beads to trade with southern tribes, which were traded up the coast until they reached the Haudenosaunee. In the 1600s, French explorers introduced glass beads from France.[1]
These tiny glass beads were on average less than an eight of an inch in diameter. Rather than having to carve out each individual bead, flawless glass beads could be traded for by the strand. This convenience, and their bright coloring, led to their quick adoption by the Haudenosaunee. In the 19th century glass beads from Bohemian were introduced. These remain the primary type of bead in Haudenosaunee art to this day.[2]
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| Mohawk Style Beadwork |
Today there are three styles of raised beadwork being practiced by Haudenosaunee bead workers. The Niagara tradition was developed around Niagara Falls, and has been used primarily by the Seneca and the Tuscarora in that region. The Mohawk tribe developed the Mohawk style. These bead workers tended to travel with medicine shows and are currently primarily working in the Montreal area. Finally, the most widespread modern style is the Thomas-Hill style, developed in the 1960s by a mother and son team, Lorena Hill and Samuel Thomas.[1]____________
