Indian Beads

[FishDFly]

What were Indian Trade Beads made of? Have heard that different colors were more valuable than others, how come?

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Are you referring to European glass beads or native made shell wampum?

 

[tenngun]

Glass mostly from Italy, also Czechoslovakia, that was part of Austria then. Blue and pure white were almost impossible dies to make and Indians who could make moose hair and quill work couldn’t get such a clear color.
All native colors were flat, but beads were bright and shinny.
As designs got more complex other colors became common, including flat ‘greasy’ beads.
Other beads such as chevron and white hearts are very I catching with the color mixes
Brass ‘French beads’ also were bright

 

[oldwood]

A one half Cherokee friend of mine 20 yrs. back , decorated his French Tulle trade musket with tiny beads. He put a tiny dimple in the wood with a 1/16" drill bit, and glued each bead in place. Too tedious for me , but the idea was effective , and looked good. He was a good artist.

 

[cornstalk]

Two other types of beads used in trade were the Chinese padre beads, so named because the California padres adorned their robes with them and used them like currency. And coral beads, in particular red coral from the Mediterranean. This coral was taken accidentally when fishermen’s nets would catch on the coral. Red coral beads were highly prized. As red coral is hard to come by, today’s red coral beads are actually bamboo coral died red.

 

[cositrike]

A one half Cherokee friend of mine 20 yrs. back , decorated his French Tulle trade musket with tiny beads. He put a tiny dimple in the wood with a 1/16" drill bit, and glued each bead in place. Too tedious for me , but the idea was effective , and looked good. He was a good artist.

You mean a bit like this?

 

[oldwood]

Costrike.......My Cherokee friend used tiny beads. I don't know much about beads , but the ones my friend used were about 1/16" , and a lot of them. When he showed me his musket , I was amazed what he did.

 

[dave951]

I have a dear friend who is part native American and is deep into the Native American crafts. So much so that his stuff looks like it should be in a museum. He does the dancing and can sing along for hours with the songs. Currently, he's helping me to learn to do beadwork in the Lakota tradition (but with modern needles and threads!).

To the OPs question- the beads are glass. If you look at some from the late 19th century, they are a bit irregular and a variety of colors. It was a closely guarded secret how they were made and yes, the factory was in Czechoslovakia but are also referred to as "German" beads. Yes, some colors were a bit more valuable because they were harder to make and therefore more rare. For some really interesting reading, look into how color palette, design motifs, and type of stitching varied among the different tribes.