Iroquois Beadwork

[Czechy]

I've noticed that the Iroquois have a very distinct style of beading with raised patterns. It looks so neat. How does one get that raised look? Are the beads hunched up in short stitches or are they beaded over a base of other beads?

And is this stitch only found on certain kinds of items?

[Blackbear]

This style of beadwork was generally done by the Tuscarora and Mohawk during the victorian period. I am not totally sure on this, but as I understand it, the Mohawk use bunched up beads..kinda like lazy stitch but tighter. And the Tuscarora lay down a line of beads and then bead over that line in the direction of the pattern. Mostley this style is done on velvet and velveteen to enhance the look of the beads. It is a bit time consuming and you have to pay attention to what you are doing or you can mess it up pretty bad, but once you get the hang of it then you can go pretty good and quickley. I don't think it is gender specific since I have seen it on whimsies, hats, skirts, leggings, bibs and collars of both men and women. The Tuscarora did have thier own style during that period where they did the raised beadwork in clear beads on top of red velvet. you can see more examples of this kind of beadwork done by a few tuscarora artists at

http://www.tuscaroraschool.org/localart.htm.

[Blackbear]

Iroquois Beadwork

I thought I would share this link... if you bring it up and scroll down the left hand side...go to the museum collections and take a look!! Hundreds of items on the museum links...and everthing is just gorgeous!!!

http://www.tier.net/isa/