I have already spoken casually of the use of beads for personal
ornament, but it will probably be better to enlarge a little upon the
subject at this point.
Beads are generally found in the graves of ancient peoples in a loose or
disconnected state, the strings on which they were secured having long
since decayed. We cannot, therefore, with certainty, restore the ancient
necklaces and other composite ornaments; but we can form some idea of
their character by a study of the objects of which they were made and
the positions held by these objects at the period of exhumation. Much
can also be learned by a study of the ornaments of modern peoples in
similar stages of culture.
As a rule, the combinations in the pendant ornaments of the ancient
American seem to have been quite simple. Being without glass, and
practically without metals, they had few of the resources of the modern
savage. Their tastes were simple and congruous, not having been
disturbed by the debasing influence of foreign innovation, which is the
cause of so much that is tawdry and incongruous in the art of modern
barbarians.
A curious example of a modern necklace is given by Professor
Haldeman,[65] who had in his possession an Abyssinian necklace "composed
of European beads, cowries (_Cyprea_ shell), a triangular plate of
glass, two small copper coins, small spheric brass buttons, cornelian,
date-seeds, numerous cloves pierced through the sides, a fragment of
wood, a bit of cane, and an Arab phylactery."
Something can be learned of the practices of the ancient Americans in
the use of beads and pendant ornaments generally, by a study of the
remains of their paintings and sculptures--such, for instance, as may be
found in the Goldsborough manuscripts or the superb lithographs of
Waldeck, examples of which are given in Plate XLV.
In a number of cases necklaces of the mound-builders have been found
upon the necks of skeletons, just as they were placed at the time of
burial.
Captain Atwater in describing the contents of a mound at Marietta, Ohio,
makes the statement that on the breast of a skeleton "lay a stone
ornament, with two perforations, one near each end, through which passed
a string, by means of which it was suspended around the wearer's neck.
On the string, which was made of sinew, and very much injured by time,
were placed a great many beads made of ivory or bone."[66]
A similar necklace is described by Mr. Matson, in the Ohio Centennial
Report, p. 127. It was found on the skeleton of a little girl, and was
so made as to be larger in the center of the neck in front, tapering
almost to a point at the middle of the back. On page 129 of the same
volume much more varied uses of bead ornaments are suggested. Mr. Matson
describes four skeletons, on each of which shell beads were found. In
three cases they had been placed about the neck only; in the fourth,
nearly thirty yards of beads had been used. There were four strands
about the neck, crossing over on the breast and back and passing down
between the legs. Strings passed down the legs to the feet, and were
also found along the arms and around the wrists.
The arrangement of the various parts of a necklace or string of pendants
is found to be much alike the world over, consisting of a strand of
beads, small toward the ends and increasing in size toward the middle,
where a central bead or pendant of peculiar form or unusual size is
placed.
The practices of modern barbarians in the employment of beads as
ornaments are extremely varied. They are employed in dressing the hair,
in head-dresses and plumes, and pendants to these; as pendants to the
hair, ears, nose, and lips; as necklaces and bracelets; as belts for the
waist and sashes to be thrown across the shoulders; and as anklets and
pendent ornaments to all parts of the costume.
Father Rasles, writing of the Abnaki Indians of Canada in 1723, says:
"If you wish to see him in all his finery, you will find he has no other
ornaments but beads; these are a kind of shell or stone, which they form
into the shape of little grains, some white and others black, which they
string together in such a way as to represent different showy figures
with great exactness. It is with these beads that our Indians bind up
and plait their hair on their ears and behind; they make of them
pendants for the ears, collars, garters, large sashes of five or six
inches in breadth, and on these kinds of ornaments they pride themselves
much more than a European would on all his gold and jewelry."[67]
It is related of the New England Indians that more than a hundred years
ago, they "hung strings of money about their necks and wrists, as also
upon the necks and wrists of their wives and children. They also
curiously make girdles, of one, two, three, four, and five inches
thickness, and more, of this money; which, sometimes, to the value of
ten pounds or more, they wear about their middle, and as a scarf about
their shoulders and breasts. Yea, the princes make rich caps and aprons,
or small breeches of these beads, thus curiously strung into many forms
and figures; their black and white finely mixed together."[68]
It is further recorded that the New England Indians "wore ear-rings and
nose-jewels; bracelets on their arms and legs, rings on their fingers,
necklaces made of highly polished shells found in their rivers and on
their coasts. The females tied up their hair behind, worked bands round
their heads and ornamented them with shells and feathers, and wore
strings of beads round several parts of their bodies. Round their
moccasins they had shells and turkey spurs, to tinkle like little bells
as they walked."[69]
The Indian women of the New Netherlands also gave great attention to
personal decoration. One writer states that they ornamented the lower
border of their skirts "with great art, and nestle the same with strips,
which are tastefully decorated with wampum. The wampum with which one of
these skirts is ornamented is frequently worth from one to three hundred
guilders. * * * Their head-dress forms a handsome and lively appearance.
Around their necks they wear various ornaments, which are also decorated
with wampum. Those they esteem as highly as our ladies do their pearl
necklaces. They also wear bead hand-bands, or bracelets, curiously
wrought, and interwoven with wampum. Their breasts appear about half
covered with an elegantly wrought dress. They wear beautiful girdles,
ornamented with their favorite wampum, and costly ornaments in their
ears."[70]
Smith states, in writing of Powhatan, that he found him "reclining
proudly upon a Bedstead a foote high, upon tenne or twelve Mattes,
richly hung with manie Chaynes of great Pearles, about his necke, and
covered with a great Couvering of Rahaughcums,"[71] and the young women
who surrounded him wore "a great Chaine of white Beades over their
shoulders."[72]
The following is from Wood, whose quaint and graphic descriptions of the
New England Indians are always interesting: "But a Sagamore with a
Humberd in his eare for a pendant, a black hawk on his _occiput_ for his
plume, Mowhackees for his gold chaine, a good store of Wampompeage
begirting his loynes, his bow in his hand, his quiver at his back, with
six naked _Indian_ spatterlashes at his heels for his guard, thinkes
himselfe little inferior to the great _Cham_; he will not stick to say
he is all one with King _Charles_. Hee thinkes hee can blow down Castles
with his breath and conquer kingdomes with his conceit."[73]
Du Pratz, in speaking of the Louisiana Indians, says: "The women's
ear-rings are made of the center part of a large shell called bingo,
which is about the thickness of one's little finger, and there is a hole
in the ear about that size for holding it."[74]
Lewis and Clark found the Shoshone Indians of the Upper Missouri using
shells of the pearl oyster to decorate the collars of their fur tippets.
The children wore beads around their necks; grown persons suspended them
in little bunches from the ears, and the collars of the men were formed
either of sea-shells from the southwest or from twisted grass with
porcupine quills.[75]
Among the Carrier Indians of the Northwest both sexes perforate their
noses, and from them the men often suspend an ornament consisting of a
piece of an oyster shell or a small piece of brass or copper. The women,
particularly those who are young, run a wooden pin through their noses,
upon each end of which they fix a kind of shell bead, which is about an
inch and a half long, and nearly the size of the stem of a common clay
pipe. These beads they obtain from their neighbors, the At-e-nâs, who
purchase them from another tribe that is said to take them from the
sea-shore, where they are reported to be found in plenty.
It is also stated of the same Indians that "the young women and girls
wear a parcel of European beads, strung together and tied to a lock of
hair directly behind each ear. The men have a sort of collar of the
shell beads already mentioned, which they wind about their heads or
throw around their necks."[76]
The absurd extreme to which this passion for ornament is carried is well
illustrated by an example given by Swan, who, speaking of the tribes
north of the Columbia River, says that "some of these girls I have seen
with the whole rim of their ears bored full of holes, into each of which
would be inserted a string of these shells that reached to the floor,
and the whole weighing so heavy that, to save their ears from being
pulled off, they were obliged to wear a band across the top of the
head."[77]
When, however, beads are found in the graves in quantity, by thousands
or tens of thousands, we shall probably have to attribute to them other
than ornamental uses.
Captain Tom, of the Nishinam tribe of California, according to
Powers,[78] had nearly a half bushel of shell beads and trinkets. One
string of these, worn by his wife on special occasions, contained
sixteen hundred pieces; but these treasures were hoarded because of
their value as money rather than as ornaments.
The wampum belts used by many of the tribes of Indians are known to
contain enormous numbers of beads. One of the historical belts kept by
the Onondagas among their treasures contains nearly ten thousand beads.
The famous belt of William Penn has about three thousand.
Sir John Lubbock, in his "Prehistoric Times," expresses surprise at the
great number of beads sometimes found, instancing the Grave Creek mound
of Virginia, which contained between three and four thousand. This
number will, however, appear very insignificant when compared with a
collection such as the costume of the great King Philip could have
furnished.
Drake relates that Philip had a coat "made all of wampampeag," which,
when in need of money, he "cuts to pieces, and distributes it
plentifully among the Nipmoog sachems and others, as well to the
eastward as southward, and all round about."[79] By adding to this store
of beads the contents of two belts, one of which was nine inches in
breadth, and so long that when placed upon the shoulders it reached to
the ankles, we conclude that the greatest collection ever taken from a
prehistoric mound could not compare for a moment with the treasure of
this one historic chieftain.
A great deal of art is shown in the stringing and mounting of beads. The
simplest form is a single strand, a twisted string of vegetable fiber, a
strip of buckskin, or a bit of sinew being passed through the
perforations. Again, rows of strands are placed side by side and
fastened at intervals in such a manner as to keep them approximately
parallel, or the beads when long are put on equidistant cross strands,
the longitudinal strands serving to keep them in place; they are also
woven into the fabric by being mounted upon one of the strands before
twisting. It is also a very usual practice to sew them on strips of
cloth or buckskin, patterns being produced by using beads of different
colors. The manner of stringing in the manufacture of belts will be
given in detail under Mnemonic Uses of Beads.