BEADWORK

The beadwork of the Great Lakes region is a multitude of floral designs. Once you move north of Lake Nipigon the influence turns to more geometric decoration.



The beads at the turn of the century (1900) were very tiny compared to the 1970's beads used by the Fort Francis beaders.

The conservers in Ottawa found that each bead was knotted, so unravelling was a slow process. Lucky for us because some of our beadwork was partially lost in the 1990 museum fire, but their remnants could be cleaned  as they were still secure.

These are the 1970's  style of beadwork.

These are Lapland Reindeer slippers. These people used fur out in their creations.

These can be seen in our Finnish Culture Cabinet.