Express Yourself With Beadwork
By James Kronefield
Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another or to cloth using a needle and thread. Beadwork is the most traditional form of Indian art. Beadwork is often found only on prestige items due to its costly labor intensive demands. Beadwork is the form a woman will often choose when a most special gift is called for; the beaded object is love made visible. Today's modern beaders are using traditional beads and material to create their own jewelry, including necklaces, bracelets, and ear rings.

Beads

Beads were carved and shaped of animal horn, turtle shell, and deer hooves, and even modern plastics. Beads have also been used for religious purposes, as good luck talismans, and as curative agents. Beads range in size from under a millimeter to over a centimeter. Beads are truly universal, and are among the oldest items manufactured by humans.

Native

Native women were inspired to invent beadwork techniques unknown to Europeans, as well as beautiful and sometimes spiritually or historically-inspired culturally unique designs. Native American beadwork can be carved from shells, coral, stones, animal bones and other materials, reflecting the Native Americans deep relationship with the earth and mother nature. Native American beadwork examples have been found for centuries, dating back to their arrival in North America long before the first of what would be many settlers arrived in the late 1400's from Europe and elsewhere. Native American Indian beadwork is one of the finest expressions of Native American traditional cultural arts.

Jewelry

Each piece of jewellery, in its shape, patterns, and colors, speaks of the wearer's culture. Those using beading as a hobby can derive satisfaction from being able

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to make simple beaded jewellery for grandchildren or friends. Beading activities in therapy have been associated mostly with children, but with the surge in popularity of beaded jewellery over the last several years, beadwork has become an acceptable adult craft intervention.

Beadwork is also used in purses, jewellery, picture frames and other whimsies. Most of the finest beadwork is still done only for relatives and gift giveaways. With a host of different styles, colors, materials and crafting techniques, Native American Beadwork is known for its beauty, its craftsmanship, however it plays a crucial role in the ceremonies and traditions of the Native American people as well as helps preserve the culture and traditions of the numerous tribes within North America. It is sometimes difficult to decide whether beadwork is a craft, an art, a communicational system similar in principle to a written language or part of a symbolic code used for their own purposes by specialists in traditional magic. We here in America should acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Native Americans (as the closest people to us, with unique and outstanding beadwork traditions), while respecting the facts that the new beadwork is not of itself "Indian", nor necessarily "Indian-based", and that beadwork everywhere is admirable.