American indian art auctions

American Indian art encompasses many types offor stringing and /or bending into various shapes.
arts and crafts, from the more traditionally and /As an example of beadwork used for a most
or stereotypically Native American art such aspractical purpose, the Iroqois League
beadwork and pottery, to modern photography,(Haudenosee) used white and purple wampum
fine paintings, sculptures and the like. There arechains made of fresh-water clam shells to record
many art auctions, both online and off, thatsacred ceremonies, treaties and songs. This
feature this form of American Indian art.practice was used both before and after the
In this article we'll discuss one of the mostcoming of European settlers.
traditional and historically relevant branches ofMany types of agreements were recorded with
American Indian art: beadwork. Beadwork of thesuch beadwork chains. They were highly valued
Native American peoples had and has practical asand cared for by their owners. European settlers
well as decorative; utilitarian as well as richmistook this care and reverence for wampum
symbolic meaning.beads as a sign that the beads held monetary
Beadwork and making of the beads themselves issignificance. As such, they mistakenly assumed
a very old craft. Stone, bone and shell beadsthat the word 'wampum' referred to money,
(such as turquoise and semi-precious stones) arewhen in actuality these important beads were
still made the same ancient way. Little affectedmuch more like very important original documents.
by modern technology, the making of beads is stillTo string beads, Native Americans used animal
carried out in nearly the exact same way assinew that is split very fine with which to attach
peoples did thousands of years ago.beads to clothing, though infrequently strong plant
Sea shell bead pieces are among the mostfibers such as hide thongs or nettle were used
popular and well known pieces of regional tradefor these purposes.
importance for thousands of years. NearlyToday, the Navajos as well as some pueblo
everyone has seen American Indian art pieces,people still make the ancient bead type called the
from beaded necklaces to purses, belts and such.heishii. This is by far the most popular and high
For the last several decades modern beadworkquantity type of beadwork that is still made
has been replicated in oriental factories and verytoday as it was in ancient times. These necklaces
cheaply imported. This makes it a competingare also referred to as story necklaces as they
factor against the top quality beadwork done bycan be used to tell stories, with each bead
American Indian craftspeople. The nativerepresenting a character.
American crafts people have lost several millionsBeads and beadwork are a very important part
of dollars (just over an eight year period duringof archaeological explorations of pre-European
the 1980s) to these fake native beads andhistory. Beads have survived thousands of years
beadwork pieces.and tell many fascinating stories about times we
Historically, beads were carved from turtle shell,weren't around to witness. This is particularly true
animal horn and deer hooves. These were oftenwith respect to beadwork mad of sea shells.
used for making rattling or tinkling pieces utilized inAncient shell beads have been found thousands of
dance. Hunters often wore necklaces put togethermiles from seas, which indicates various trade
with animal portions, such as bear claws or wolfroutes and contacts among different groups of
claws. These indicated a hunter's prowess. Bonespeople.
and seeds were often steamed to soften them