Symbolic View

Items like this bag made by indigenous women represent ecological knowledge, ingenuity, and an effort to sustain their heritage and cultural values. The natural world has always been a valuable teacher in Native communities. The rainbow of contrasting patterns of colors and designs tell stories among different groups that are passed down from one generation to their kin.The patterns on this bag are a combination of flowers and plants that could possibly be telling a story about spring time and the abundance of plant growth and life. The gradiation of colors among the beads and assymetrical pattern of floral designs are typical of the Great Lakes Region. The designs of certain flowers and leaves may embody the cosmos because of the way they are branching in fours, which relates to the division of the terrestrial realm into North, South, East, and West (Kilroy-Ewbank, 2016.)

Every stitch could have only used one bead on the needle and thread at a time which symbolizes the immense amount of tedious work put into making these bags. Looking closesly at the beadwork in the bottom left blueberry, there is one white bead amongst a pool of blue. A lot of artists use this "mistake" as a signature of their art (Bellanger, 2013.) The tiny imperfection is also seen as a sign of respect and aknowledgement for the creator of the world, the only one who can create something completely perfect.