Dawn Spears

Made about 120 years apart, these accessories show how the content of Indigenous North

American art—especially references to the natural world— persists even as its form shifts. As new materials become available, Native artists evolve their techniques.

The shot pouch, created by a Ho-Chunk artist whose name was not recorded in museum records, features beaded flowers. The use of porcupine quills in Indigenous designs spans from Maine to Alaska, and earlier bags by Midwestern makers were decorated with quillwork and other natural materials. When European settlers brought glass beads to North America, Native communities adopted them into their art practices. Narragansett artist Dawn Spears hand-drew designs on these Converse All Stars using markers. The shades of green are reminiscent of plants, and the blue evokes water.

–Sháńdíín Brown, assistant curator of Native American art