Tuscarora Hand-Beaded Bird, ca. 1890-1920. 2023.26.004
Tuscarora Hand-Beaded Bird, ca. 1890-1920. 2023.26.003
Mohawk Hand-Beaded Bird, ca. 1890-1920. 2023.26.002
(Collection 2023.26)
The story for this object is different from the others but the artifact and the context in which it was created is of such cultural importance that it simply could not be left out. I don’t have the specific name of the person who collected these birds or who specifically made each one. It is believed to have been the mother or grandmother of the donor who collected the birds from different tourist spots in Western New York, especially the Niagara region. Nine birds were donated to the GCV&M. Those with the wings tilted up and tacked together such as this one are said to be in the Tuscarora tradition while the birds with the wings tilted down are in the Mohawk tradition. There were also eight small dolls, and more than two dozen pamphlets were included that spoke of archaeological digs and the cultures of our local indigenous peoples. It is clear that the collector did not just want to buy pretty things but also wanted to learn and educate herself. Although we don’t have the full story here, the important part of the case study is the context of how this object came to be and the cultural and social aspects that drove its creation.
A New-York Historical Society article asks the question, “How can a simple pincushion—created by an unidentified Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) artist—represent the survival and adaptive skill of Indigenous artistry within an international marketplace?”1 The short answer is that they devised a new way of making income after hardship. But a longer history of these beautifully beaded birds helps one gain a fuller understanding.
In the 1600’s glass beads were introduced to the Iroquois, composed of the five nations of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, with the addition of a sixth nation, the Tuscarora in the mid-1700s, and now are known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. At that time, they were living in large swathes of Western New York and Canada. By the end of the 1700s they had learned sewing skills after encountering missionaries. “For a century and a half, the Haudenosaunee used glass beads for personal adornment. Their jewelry probably consisted mainly of necklaces, bracelets, and ear decorations…although beads were sewn onto clothing in the early 18th century, it is not until late in the century that there is evidence of beads applied to an item such as a pincushion.”2
In the early 1800s beaded works began to be used on utilitarian items such as purses, pincushions, and card cases. Although the “majority of the early beadwork was made by Seneca artists in western New York,”3 it was the Tuscarora and the Mohawk that took things to a commercial level in the mid-1800s. With only about one tenth of their original hunting, fishing, and farming land remaining, and with their fur trade declining, new ways of income needed to be explored. They found this new income in the form of thousands of Victorian tourists to the areas of Western New York and southern Ontario, most notably at Niagara Falls, but also, in the case of the Mohawk, at train stations, state fairs, wild west shows, and even door to door. They created birds, such as the ones the GCV&M have in their collections, but also many other small items such as pincushions, wall pockets, purses, needle cases, dolls (with the bodies made of cornhusks), matchstick holders, and more, all beautifully beaded with florals designs, birds, and animals.
In the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th they often wrote the date and location on the item, all spelled out in beads of course. The sentimentality that the Victorians were known for meant the lovely souvenirs were quite popular. “The Tuscaroras themselves report that they enjoyed a monopoly of sales at Niagara Falls because of an agreement with a former owner of land on the New York side [and] have often been recognized as the leading producers of Iroquois beadwork and the leader of the Niagara tradition. Ever since the 1860s they have maintained a steady tradition of beadwork production. Photos taken over the years since the 1860s document continuous beadwork sales at Niagara Falls.”4 With around 60,000 visitors in 1850, and with numbers growing steadily each year, the sale of these items became an import source of income. This simple pincushion bird is a symbol of ingenuity, artistry, entrepreneurship, and the adaptive skills of the Haudenosaunee beadworkers.
Although these early works were, for the most part, made by the Tuscarora and Mohawk Nations, in the 1980s there was a revival of beadwork that lead to a modern beadworking resurgence across the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. There have been beading circles, conferences, and these works of art have been featured in almost two dozen museum exhibitions in the 21st century. “The popularity of Iroquois beadwork has increased substantially, and there are probably more active beadworkers today making more pieces than at any other time in history. With new energy and creativity, traditional Iroquois beadwork moves into its third century.”5
- Jeanne Gutierrez, “What Can a Pincushion Tell Us About Indigenous Women’s History?,” New-York Historical Society, October 10, 2022, https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/what-can-a-pincushion-tell-us-about-indigenous-womens-history. ↩︎
- Dolores N. Elliott and Carol Ann Lorenz, Birds and Beasts in Beads: 150 Years of Iroquois Beadwork (Hamilton, New York: Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University, 2011). ↩︎
- Dolores Elliott, “Two Hundred Years of Iroquois Beadwork,” Thimble Collectors International, accessed April 1, 2024, https://thimblecollectors.com/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/Two_Hundred_Years_of_Iroquois_Beadwork_219.pdf. ↩︎
- Elliott and Lorenz, 19. ↩︎
- Elliot, 9. ↩︎