Native American Plateau Beaded Figurative Belt

Very nice fully beaded Plateau belt on saddle leather. Note: all back stitches go through. Colors of greasy yellow, red, white, and blue on leather. Period: Early 20th Century Orig...

Fully beaded Shohsone belt on harness leather. Dark blue edging with lighter blue center having dispersed geometric designs. Period: Late 19th century Origin: Great Basin - Shoshone...

Genuine crow saddle with brain tanned deer hide. Original beaded horns and drops. Original wood and hide stirrups with drops connected with saddle leather st...

Apache beaded strike-a-light. Fully beaded both sides. Red ochre covered with double tin cone drops. Blue padre bead handle and chain drops from flap. 4" x 5" longest drop 5". Beads ...

Colorful Plateau cornhusk sally bag with geometric designs of green, blue and red linen. Canvas reinforced. Period: First quarter of the 20th century Origin: Plateau Size: 6" D x 10...

Native American Yokut polychrome feast basket woven with sedge root, mud dyed bracken fern and redwood. Diamond bands with three "quivers". First quarter 20th Century 10 1/2" wide x...

This very fine exceptional early 19th century native American Indian corn husk plateau bag. Fine condition with a fantastic patch repair on one side.

Native American style double-strand necklace with coral and turquoise beads. Top of necklace is double stranded and tapered out from the centre. Large double beaded turquoise knot fl...

A parfleche container in an envelope form, finely painted in an abstract design. Makes a stunning wall hanging alone or in a grouping with other parfleche or can be placed on a shelf or Stand. This was created by a North American Indian living in the Plateau cultural area - encompassing portions of what is now northern Idaho, western Montana, northeast and central Oregon, eastern Washington and southeast British Columbia. The tribes from this region include Kalispel, Flathead, Kutenai, Palus, Coeur D'Alene and Nez Perce. Parfleches are rawhide containers which were fundamental to the Plains way of life. Functioning essentially as protective travelling suitcases, they enabled the nomadic tribes to effectively pursue buffalo herds and migrate between seasonal camps. So critical were they to a nomadic existence that over 40 tribes are known to have historically produced parfleches. Collectively, these tribes inhabited an area which encompassed the entirety of the Plains, as well as the parts of the Southwest, the Transmontane and Western Plateau regions. Parfleches were, out of necessity, robust and versatile objects. They were designed to carry and protect within them anything from medicinal bundles to seasonal clothing or food. In fact, it was because of the containers’ robusticity and variety that parfleches earned their name in the Anglo world. Derived from parer (to parry or turn aside) and fleche (arrow), the word parfleche was coined by 17th century French Canadian voyageurs and used to describe indigenous objects made from rawhide. Despite their common utilitarian function, parfleches served as one of the major mediums through which Plains Indian tribes could develop their long-standing tradition of painting. In fact, it is in large part due to the parfleche that tribal style emerged. Even though parfleche painting developed simultaneously with beading and weaving, painting as an artistic tradition held particular importance in tribal culture. Believed to have evolved from tattooing, it had always been used as a conduit through which tribal and individual identity could be expressed. As such, many tribeswomen were deeply committed, some even religiously, to decorating their parfleche either with incised or painted motifs that were significant to them and/or the tribe. For some tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the decorative processes which surrounded parfleche production were sacred. For others, it seems that their parfleche designs shared an interesting artistic dialogue with their beadwork, indicating a more casual exchange of design motifs. This particular relationship can be seen in Crow parfleche...

Very collectible, beautifully handmade Northern Paiute or Piute Native American Indian beaded moccasins feature striking contrasting colors of orange, ye...

This pair of 19th century antique moccasins date to circa 1880 and are constructed of native tanned hide and sewn with glass trade beads in colors of...

A Classic Period (Pre-Reservation era) knife sheath created circa 1870 by a Crow (Plains Indian/Native American) artist. Constructed of Native tanned hid...