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Moose hide and a Snapping Turtle shell make up the base for this bag which is lined with Red Trade Wool and has two compartments.

The twisted fringe is Deer hide. The top-flap is beaded in a Ute floral design. The shoulder strap is 40" long and is made from Hair-bone and glass beads. It is attached to the bag with Moose antler buttons.

Blackfoot Dispatch Bag

Red trade cloth makes up the main bag with beads depicting the whirlwind and tipi border motif, beaded droopers, hawk bells and tin cones.

Mirror Bag (Evening Shoulder Purse)

T his bag measures 5" - 6" and is comprised of deer hide, red trade wool, glass pony beads, concho and twisted fringe. Its patterned cut-work decoration in Apache style reveals the red strouding underneath.

Opera Bag

The Opera Bag was inspired by a nineteenth-century beaded bag made by the Women of the Six Nations Reserve to sell to the tourists in the Niagara Falls area. It is a drawstring bag with raised Iroquois stitched beadwork, both sides on black velvet. It measures 5"x 5". My friend Kayenderes suggested I make this. I made one for her also.

Possibles Bag (Shoulder Bag)

Moose hide makes up the main bag which is lined with Red Trade Wool. It is comprised of 3 compartments and measures 12" x 12". The fringe is twisted Deer hide. The shoulder strap is 40"L and is comprised of hair bone, brass beads and Siam red rubies.
It is fastened to the bag by two 2" dia. conch shell disks. The beadwork is in Shoshoni motif.

Woman's Pipe Bag

The original bag was brought to me for repair; this is its story as told to me by the owner.

In 1944 his parents had relocated to Saskatchewan while his father did his basic military training in preparation to go to war. His mother befriended an elder native woman who had made this bag as a gift.

As time and constant handling would have it, the bag became heavily soiled and in attempting to clean it by washing with soap and water, I can only assume that the lye in the soap removed the natural chemicals created by the operation of brain and smoke tanning. Following, the leather hardened and then began to crack with constant folding and unfolding. At some point in time it had gotten wet, and not drying out properly, had begun to rot when it was brought to me. I suggested to the owner at this time, the wisest thing to do to preserve the bag from deteriorating any further from handling, was to press it fully open between two pieces of glass, and frame it. This would allow him to appreciate both sides of the bag as it hung on the wall as a picture would.

While inspecting the bag, I found a piece of paper inside describing the beadwork as Cree and Blackfoot. The owner could not tell me the full story, so, I'm assuming two possibilities:
1- the bag was beaded by two different women, as sometimes was done.
2- one woman was a mix of Cree and Blackfoot.

I would like to have known the Elder's story as she would have been born in the mid 1800s and had wise eyes.

As I returned the bag to him, I asked permission to reproduce the bag and he gave me his blessing. The difference being, the hide is commercial tanned moose and the beads are not from that period.

skull beadwork    miniatures    mixed media    gauntlets    masks/dolls    paintings    shields    war shirts    footwear