

INDIAN BEADWORK 
BEAD WEAVING. 
This type of beadwork is now popular and spreading rapidly among 
the Indians and our own people. Its center of development seems to 
have been the Menomini Indians of Wisconsin. A weaving frame of 
some kind is necessary. Scarfs, garters, and belts are almost invariably 
the objects made by this process. Strong thread is wound around the 
frame like the warp in a loom. (Fig. 5). Cross threads (weft) are 
woven into these and it is upon these that the beads are strung. Meno- 
mini specimens show three types of weaving: (a) single weft, (b) double 
weft, and (c) heddle woven; a and b are woven on a frame without 
other help than a needle, but ¢ requires some additional apparatus. 
The Sauk and Fox Indians use the heddle shown in Fig. 6. 
The Shoshoni frequently use a bow for the frame (Fig. 5a), the 
elasticity of the bow keeping the threads stretched; but here the warps 
are not continuous. This bow-loom is interesting because it seems to be 
the original loom upon which quill weaving was done, for again we find 
that a quill technique was the parent of bead weaving. 
An interesting form of bead weaving is found among the Seminole, 
Yuchi, and other southern Indian tribes. Handsome belts, girdles, and 
garters are woven of commercial yarn. The warp and weft are diagonal 
and on them at intervals are strung beads. In some cases the warp and 
weft are white threads and the beads laid in in design patches, around 
which are bands of different colored yarns, all woven together. These 
make a unique and striking product. But of much greater interest is the 
use of horsehair in this diagonal weaving, with an entire beaded surface. 
The fine stiff hairs hold the beads apart and permit the light to pass 
through, greatly enhancing the value of the composition. The manner of 
weaving is shown in Fig. 8d. The same technique, but upon thread, is 
used by all the Woodland tribes for long narrow bands of beadwork and 
even occurs in some modern beadwork from Central America (Second 
Floor). The latter have still another variety in which the weft is carried 
across the warp, V-like, resulting in a band with a central rib. 
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