Unknown Maker, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe)

Bandolier bags, modeled on European shot pouches, were worn by Native men on formal or festive occasions. Also called friendship bags, they often were made as gifts to other groups. This exuberant piece from the upper Midwest features highly stylized vegetal and floral motifs expertly crafted in glass beads imported from Italy or Czechoslovakia. Floral beadwork motifs were introduced into the Native American design vocabulary by French nuns who established themselves in Quebec in the early 17th century and moved westward.

One of the results of European contact with Native Americans was the introduction of floral beadwork and embroidery motifs into their traditional design repertoire. As traders moved West so too did missionaries who established schools to instruct the Indians. By the 1860s schools were established in the Subartctic region, around trading posts along Hudson's Bay and farther west. Missionary nuns instructed Indian girls in needlework and introduced them to floral styles which were adapted for their own uses. The mittens in this case are an example of the type of work being done by the Cree Indians living near the Hudson's Bay posts. Floral motifs were strongest in the decorative arts of the Indians around the Great Lakes as is evident in the Chippewa bandolier bag and mittens exhibited in this case. As floral styles moved westward they became more stylized as can be seen in both the man's vest, a clothing style also adopted from the Europeans, and in the pipe bag which shows how this floral style was adapted by members of the western Plains Ojibwa.