Home > An Ojibwa Native Artist > Sewing the Beads
Native Artist - Nokomis
Sewing the Beads
Ojibwa mothers and daughters spent hours together sewing beads onto panels that would eventually be used to decorate clothing, boots or tikinogans (the cradle boards mothers used to hold their babies).
The beads were bought at the general store in multi-coloured hanks. In the days before plastic vials, they were stored in small leather pouches, tin cans or glass jars.
Ojibwa designs were always stylized flowers and leaves... never the geometric patterns used by the plains tribes. The only colour we didn't use was orange... and I don't know whether it was because it wasn't available or that it just wasn't favoured. I haven't seen orange used on any of the old beaded examples in museums either.
It used to be that the beads were sewn onto hides... usually tanned deer hide. But when I was a girl most women in the Ontario bush were buying black velveteen to decorate with beads and incorporate into moccassins and clothing. It saved the work of tanning hides and it was a lot easier on the fingers.
Nowadays I make my own beads from polymer clay and one day I'll write a page all about the process.
Let's go back to the Nokomis page.
