Beaded Hair Tube or Drop, North Eastern Woodlands
Beaded Hair Tube or Drop, North Eastern Woodlands
Menominee Peoples, North America
1920’s – 1930’s
Trade cloth, glass beads, silk ribbons and cotton thread
33 × 14 × 9.5 in / 84 × 36 × 24 cm
Description Written By Winfield Coleman
Menominee women pulled their hair back into a single braid, then threaded it through a leather tube beaded with geometric designs, to which two beaded pendants were attached. The tube was usually beaded with an overlay stitch, while the pendants were woven with beads. The various designs are harmonized through the repetition of colors. The pendant's pattern in this example represents otter tracks, the diamonds represent footprints, and the long rectangles signify the animal's tail dragging in the mud. Before the introduction of beads through trade, designs were worked in quills, and their names allude to the underlying symbolism.
This example of a hair tube is decorated in two different styles. Most of the elements are geometric, with designs of pre-contact origin originally executed in quillwork, containing the associated pre-contact symbolism. The top panel, however, has a floral motif in spot-stitch, also known as overlay. Floral motifs are found in pre-contact items but are generally abstracted. A more naturalistic style is said to have been introduced by Ursuline nuns located along the St. Lawrence River runway who taught young native american women how to embroider in the European style.
The more naturalistic style spread westward rapidly but soon became more abstracted – usually bi-symmetrical and often outlined in a contrasting color, such as white. European symbolism was not incorporated until later, if ever; if there is a symbolic meaning attached to this abstracted flower, it is unknown.
The two styles blend into a harmonious composition through expert use of color, sizes, shapes, and techniques.Domestic shipping included. International shipping is quoted separately.
