Bandolier bags, or gashkibidaaganag--the large, heavily beaded shoulder bags made and worn by several North American Indian tribes around the Great Lakes--are prized cultural icons here and around the world. From the 1870s to the present day, Ojibwe bead artists of Minnesota have been especially well known for their lively, creative designs. Neighboring Dakota people would trade a pony for a beautiful beaded bag.
Over the years, non-Indian collectors and ethnographers, struck by the bags' cultural significance and visual appeal, bought them up. Today, there are hundreds of bags in...
Bandolier bags, or gashkibidaaganag--the large, heavily beaded shoulder bags made and worn by several North American Indian tribes around the Great La...
