North American Auction Company
Live Auction

Fine Montana Collector Sale - April 2023

Sat, Apr 22, 2023 11:00AM EDT
Lot 205

C.1900 Chippewa Cree Loom Beaded Strike-A-Lite Bag

Estimate: $750 - $1,150

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$50,000 $2,500
This is an unusual and scarce loom beaded strike-a-lite bag from the Chippewa Cree of the Northern Plains Native American Indians dating to the early 1900s. The bag is comprised of medium to thick Indian hide, likely Caribou hide due to color and finish. The front of the bag shows the hide flap with traditional sinew sewn lazy stitched beadwork and thread sewn fancy beaded edge border. The front of the bag is covered in thread sewn loom beadwork with a beaded edge sinew sewn and the back has more traditional sinew sewn beadwork. Loom beadwork has been documented as being used as early as the third to fourth quarter of the 19th Century (1800's) from the Chippewa, Cree, Ho Chunk Winnebago, Pottawatomie, Great Lakes, as well as some other tribes. The beadwork shows colors of greasy sky light padre blue, Cheyenne pink, red, semi-transparent brown, orange, red white heart, medium green, cobalt, greasy yellow, semi-transparent light blue, faceted, and greasy lilac. The back of the bag shows the braided Indian hide belt strap and a cut out integral belt loop. There is a collection tag marked "D0005". The front shows a braided Indian hide tie with single early glass trade bead (larger glass trade beads such as this were considered as currency during the 19th Century amongst many tribes). The bag shows some bead loss which exposes some sinew and thread ends. Truly an unusual bag and one of the only early authentic loom beaded strike-a-lite bags we have had. Provenance: From a large Native American collection in Royal Oaks, California. Measures overall 8.5"L including the belt strap by 3.75"W.*