Gilcrease Museum is temporarily closed for construction.

Get the Full Story

Glass bead necklace with turquoise and heishi / Native American; Kewn

Essay/Description

Tuquoise and shell beads sturng on cotton string.

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). The Plains Indians also traded with Southwestern tribes, which is how they acquired the turquoise. To the Southwest tribes and even parts of Mexico, turquoise’s color symbolized “the blue of water and the green of growing vegetation, essential conditions for life” (Furst and Furst 1982, 37).

You may be interested in...

Title(s): 
Glass bead necklace with turquoise and heishi
Culture: 
Native American; Kewn
Date: 
19th century
Period: 
Historic
Place: 
New Mexico, United States of America
Materials/Techniques: 
cloth string, glass, turquoise, shell
Dimensions: 
14 15/16 in. (38 cm)
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Accession No: 
84.193
Department: 
Not On View

Our Online Collections site is a work in progress. If you have information about this item that may be of assistance, please contact us.