American Indian beaded bags of the Columbia River region.

Beadwork is one of the most recognizable and visually striking of American Indian art forms. Glass beads made in Europe were among the most highly prized trade items throughout North America. A variety of bead-work techniques and elaborate designs were handed down from one generation to the next, and by the middle of the nineteenth century regional and tribal styles began to emerge.

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The various tribes that lived along the Columbia River and its tributaries in what is now eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Idaho were among the most proficient beadwork artists of all North American Indians. (1) They first had access to commercially made glass beads in the early nineteenth century, shortly after Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) completed their epic journey to the Pacific Ocean in November 1805. The earliest beads in the region, known as pony beads, were about one centimeter (approximately 1/16 inch) in diameter and were most frequently available in black, white, red, and blue. Because of their size and limited range of colors, they were often used only as alternating bands or blocks of color (see Pl. VII). By mid-century smaller beads, known as seed beads, were introduced in a much wider range of colors. This resulted in an explosion of complex designs appearing on objects made for the Indians' own use and for sale outside the community.

One of the most ubiquitous beaded objects from the Columbia River region is the flat beaded bag. These rectangular bags, usually beaded on one side only, appear to have developed just after 1850 with the introduction of seed beads. The bags made between 1850 and 1875 were usually of red or dark blue woolen cloth. The interior was unlined, the top edges were often reinforced with leather; and two leather thongs sewn on just below the upper edges served as handles. Sometimes large glass trade beads and even Chinese coins were used as additional decoration (see Pl. III). The beads were sewn on with an applique stitch using two needles. The beads were strung on one thread, which was secured at both ends; the second thread was used to tack the string of beads to the bag at regular intervals. This technique required hundreds of tiny stitches, but it permitted the creation of abstract curvilinear designs that have a lively, organic feel to them, In the early bags two rows of different colored beads were applied next to each other to create an outline, making the background cloth an integral part of the design.