Book - And the Bead Goes On! (The Vision Persists: Native Folk Arts of the West) [SOLD]


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Robert Liu, Ph.D., et al.
  • Subject: The Plains Indians
  • Item # 0-937808-63-6
  • Date Published: 1995/06/01
  • Size: 72 pages
  • SOLD

From the Foreword:

During the summers my aunt would come to live with us to help my parents, who worked each day. She always arrived at our house with a big round cookie tin full of tiny glass beads. I would sit and examine these beads, marveling at the feel, constantly amazed at the variety of colors that comprised this wonderful collection. The reflections of the beads when I held them up to the light would remind me of the way our land looked.

On long, hot, still summer afternoons, while my younger siblings napped, my aunt would work patiently with me as I gained my first experience at creating an object out of beads. At first I listened as I watched her sew each little bead in place. She explained that what we create with our thoughts and hands can also serve to teach us about life and how to live in harmony, not only with ourselves, but also with those around us. When it came time for me to begin my own piece, I had confidence that anything I was to make would be a success because I had created it with my thoughts and my hands.

I was also exposed to Navajo traditional art forms such as weaving and silversmithing, but I was more intrigued by glass beads and subsequently chose to express myself in this medium.

Through time, in societies throughout the world, people have adorned themselves with beads or jewels of one sort or another. The Navajo people are no exception. Long ago, Navajos decorated their buckskin clothing with porcupine quills. Shells and stones were used as symbols of wealth and status among our people.

We have four sacred stones: Abalone, Jet, Turquoise, and White Shell. In our stories there was a woman named White Shell Woman who came and offered beads made from different, precious materials to the Navajo people. Each stone is significant in the creation and perpetuation of the Navajo. These ";;;beads";;; have been used by the Navajo people through the years to protect us and to indicate status in our communities.

When I attended college, recalling these stories inspired me to further explore my work in glass beads. I began making items to sell at craft fairs for a little extra money. Many of the colors that I used were the same as those my aunt had used. They were the rainbow colors, the fire colors of maroon, red, orange, black, yellow, and white on a background of turquoise.

Robert Liu, Ph.D., et al.
  • Subject: The Plains Indians
  • Item # 0-937808-63-6
  • Date Published: 1995/06/01
  • Size: 72 pages
  • SOLD

Publisher:
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