Wampum Beadwork Shoulder Bag Woodland Indian Longhunter

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EASTERN WOODLAND INDIAN BAGWAMPUM BEADWORK This is a beautiful eastern woodland Indian bag was recently completed. It is made from white wool and is authentic to the 18th century pattern used by the various tribes to hold a variety of items from trail food to shooting supplies and extra buckskin to repair their moccasins. This bag measures 7 1/2 inches in width and 10 inches in height. The strap is made from 3 woven rows of clamshell style "simulated wampum" and measures 1 1/2 inches in width and is 45 inches in length. This bag is decorated with a woven "sheet" of clamshell wampum measuring 5 1/4 inches wide by 7 3/8 inches in height. The wampum is woven using a heavy linen flax cording as the warp and a heavy sinew as the weft securing the beads into place. The warp cording is then sewn through the wool and tied off. The top of the wool bag is decorated with 4 ring broaches and 4 cones with deerhair. The bottom is decorated with 15 tin cones sporting red deerhair and Czech beads. The entire bag is lined with white glass Czech beads. The inside of the bag is lined with a natural oatmeal linen liner. This handsome shoulder bag would make a nice addition for anyone doing a historic woodland Indian or Longhunter reanactor impression. It also makes a beautiful decorative piece for any frontier motif in your home or office.Please email me any questions you may have. Also please view other woodland items on ebay's MY STORE "Art of America Past Gallery". You can also view a wide selection of my eastern frontier artwork as seen on the covers of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association's magazine MUZZLE BLASTS. A little history on the eastern shoulder bag:T were two very basic styles of eastern woodland Indian bags: soft pouches, made of tanned animal hide, usually deer or elk, and after trade was established with the Europeans, wool was a popular material being easy to work, strong, and colorful. Native American bags were often quilled or beaded with the characteristic tribal designs of the craftsperson (usually a woman) who made it, particularly if the bag was designed to hold something sacred, such as a medicine bag or tobacco bag, or was being made as regalia for a fiance, daughter or son. The bag was also utilitarian in use holding an assortment of shooting supplies, food for the trail, and other necessary items from hunting or warfare. The bags could be decorated with quillwork, glass trade beads, animal fur, brass or tin cones with deerhair or horsehair, or any combination suitable to the owners desire.The wampum beads are made by the Waaban Aki Crafting Company of Connecticut The clamshell beads are an individually-made simulated wampum beads which actually -looks- like the Native-made wampum beads of the 1600's. The beads (1cm long x .5 cm diameter), are hand-made, sturdy, and have the same color, stripes and variation as real quahog and whelk beads - they create a quality historic product which is also used for museum quality repairs. A little history of clamshell wampum: In northeastern North America, woven belts of tubular shell beads were made by Native Americans from the 16th through the 18th century. Wampum beads were made in two colors, white from the whelk shell and purple from the growth rings of the quahog shell. Prehistoric shell beads were large and barrel shaped, usually made from the whelk's spiraling inner columnela. Prehistoric shell beads were scarce because drilling the material was difficult with wide stone drill bits. This proto-wampum was traded only in ceremonial contexts because of the connections of shell with water and life giving properties. European traders and politicians, using beads and trinkets, often exploited gift exchange to gain Native American favor or territory. Wampum, though made into a longer and more slender bead, was even being made by the Dutch Europeans, and it continued in use until the American Revolution. read more

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