HK Item #NBJ-27
Shannon
Fast Horse, Lakota | ||||
|
Beaded turtle with Four Colors Medicine Wheel.
Six beaded green tubular spacers and brass beads between the four inch long hair pipe beads.
Soft buckskin backing. | NBJ-27 | |||
14 1/2 inches from top of necklace to top of shield.
| ||||
Bone Hair Pipe BeadsHair pipe beads are long hollow beads usually, but not always, having tapered ends. The term "hair pipe" was likely coined by early white traders who saw indians wearing the long beads as hair ornaments. Hair pipes are thought to have been originally made of conch shell by southeastern Indians (Chickasaw, Creeks, and Cherokee).Some of the oldest shell hair pipes, discovered in Tennessee, are estimated to be from 4,000 years ago. Hair pipes of bone appeared around the late 1800s when white traders brought corn cob pipes to the Ponca Indians of the midwest - the Poncas found that the bone pipe stems made excellent hair pipes. Later, hair pipes were made of glass, brass, silver, horn and other materials. |
NATIVE AMERICAN TURTLE SYMBOLISMNurturer, Protector, Mother Energy, Mother Earth. Turtle's medicine includes connection with Great Spirit, journeys of discovery, patience, feminine strength, power to heal female diseases, inspiration, protecting oneself snd others, self-reliance, and tenacity, longevity. |
The Story of Beaded Prison PendantsSome Lakota inmates in South Dakota jails have the talent and skill - and time - to produce really fine beadwork with buckskin backing. Some of the best beaders are older men serving life sentences. Beading supplies are provided by an inmate's family and when a number of beaded items are finished the family contacts Lakota artist and pipemaker Alan Monroe. Alan pays the family for the items he wants and the family uses the money to purchase gift boxes through the prison for the beader. Gift boxes contain food and other commissary items and that is how the beaders get compensated for their work. . |
About BeadsBeads used by Native American artists are usually round but can be flattened (rondelle) or cylindrical. They are usually made of glass and come in a variety of colors. Most are one solid color except for European Trade Beads, which are mulit-colored and sometimes decorated. Beads are measured by the "aught" system with 1/0, pronounced "one aught", being the largest. The larger the number the smaller the bead.
Seed beads are the smallest round beads, 24/0 to 4/0. 24/0 is approx. 1/32 inch
(about the size of a grain of sand). Seed beads are used mainly for beaded items
and embroidery. Most contemporary high-quality seed beads are made in the Czech Republic, Japan or India.
|
