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Cornhusk bag / Native American; Nez Perce

Essay/Description

Twined corn husk bag with various geometric designs. The corn husk has been dyed red, green, blue, and yellow to produce the designs on the front of the bag, and dyed red, blue, and green on the back of the bag. The bag has a cotton string tie around the top.

“Friendship bags,” also known as corn-husk bags, are made of twined cornhusk and contain woven, and sometimes beaded, elaborate geometric or naturalistic designs (Paterek 1994, 212-213). Women often used these bags to “store edible roots and many sorts of valuable goods” (Berlo & Phillips 1998, 132). The Plateau Indians also traded these bags with many different tribes and later with white explorers and settlers.

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Title(s): 
Cornhusk bag
Culture: 
Native American; Nez Perce
Date: 
19th century
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
Plateau Region, United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
corn husk, cotton string
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
71.44
Department: 
Not On View

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