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Blue glass bead necklace strung on cotton string / Native American; Northwest Coast

Essay/Description

Hudson Bay Trade Beads. Blue glass beads strung on cotton string. These beads were made in Bohemia (present day Czech Republic) and were used for trade.

Plains Indians’ necklaces “were made of grass, seeds, shell beads, strings of fossil crinoids, animal claws, horns, antlers, and teeth, especially elk teeth” (Paterek 1994, 86). Trade beads were made and brought from Europe to trade with the Native Americans for gold, furs, and other precious materials. Many beads were made in Italy, often from glass. The Native Americans greatly valued these beads because the beads they made were arduously crafted one at a time and, therefore, were valuable and rare (Dubin 1999, 172).

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Title(s): 
Blue glass bead necklace strung on cotton string
Culture: 
Native American; Northwest Coast
Date: 
circa 1875
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
La Push, Clallam, Washington, United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
glass, cotton string
Dimensions: 
16 3/4 in. (42.5 cm)
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
57.6
Department: 
Not On View

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