Bandolier Bag

In the Woodlands region there is a tradition of making bags and pouches to hold personal belongings. By the late 19th century, men frequently wore large, heavily beaded bags, sometimes two at a time, for dress occasions. A gashkibidagun, known in English as a bandolier bag, was far more important as a form of prestigious body decoration than as a functional object. In the Eastern Woodlands women had long decorated their family's clothing and accessories with porcupine-quill embroidery, a difficult art practiced only in North America. Made as gifts to close relatives, beaded bags and other decorated items of clothing represented both the closeness of family bonds and the skill of the maker. When glass beads from Europe became available through trade in the 19th century, women adapted their technique to new designs of