Sewing the Seeds 200 Years of Iroquois Glass Beadwork

Sewing the Seeds:  200 Years of Iroquois Glass Beadwork

For over 200 years Haudenosaunee beadworkers have sewn sparkling glass seed beads into intricate pincushions, purses, and picture frames. Created for tourists, they nonetheless reflect the Haudenosaunee culture in their love of natural imagery and color. More than 100 pieces were included in the Rockwell Museum's exhibit, Sewing the Seeds: 200 Years of Iroquois Glass Beadwork.

The exhibition was comprised of imaginative images of flora and fauna on pieces of beadwork adorned with a variety of purses, moccasins, and frames. A vast array of colors features beadwork in the shape of strawberries, beaded animals, as well as Indian-made dolls with beaded clothing. The flowers, plants, animals, and birds adorn pincushions, picture frames, and many other of the eighty types of Iroquois beadwork. A highlight of the exhibit was the 21st century recreation of a traditional woman's outfit such as those worn by Haudenosaunee women in ceremonies, pow wows, and festivals for over three hundred years.

The beadwork came from the 2000-piece collection of Iroquois beadwork assembled by Dolores Elliott of Binghamton, NY. Elliott's collection is one of the largest collections in the world. She has authored several books concerning the history and identification of Iroquois beadwork including Flights of Fancy and Iroquois Beadwork Vol 1: A Short History. Her articles have appeared in BEADS: The Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers and in three journals of the Bead Society of Great Britain along with dozens of newspapers and historical society newsletters. She has presented dozens of presentations on Iroquois beadwork at colleges, museums, and meetings of social groups, historical societies, and archaeology clubs.

Pieces from the collection have been shown at the New York State Museum in Albany, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Connecticut, the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, the Bruce Museum in Connecticut, the Woolaroc Museum in Oklahoma, the Seneca Iroquois Museum in Salamanca, the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario, and closer to home in Binghamton, Ithaca, Elmira, Vestal, Oneonta, and Syracuse.