Beaded Bandolier Bags by Martha Berry

The featured bag, "Post-Pandemic: Finding a New Direction," is my most recent creation.

It took First Place, Beadwork and Quillwork, at the Southeastern Art Show and Market (SEASAM), Chickasaw Nation, Sulfur, OK, on Sept. 30, 2021, and Second Place, Beadwork & Quillwork, at the Cherokee Art Market (CAM), on Dec. 6, 2021.

The beaded bandolier bag, which required 366 hours to produce, was completed on Sept. 19, 2021. I am pleased to report that this bandolier was recently acquired by the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

The image on the pouch flap (shown at right) is a map of Serpent Mound in Ohio. The long, curving mound represents the body of a snake and was built to align with true North, sunrise on both equinoxes, sunrise on both solstices, and sunset on the summer solstice. Archaeologists disagree on when the mound was built, anywhere from 1100 AD to 300 BC. They all agree that the mound was constructed by ancestors of modern Indigenous Americans.

The strap motifs are variations of designs found on Mound Builder pottery. To the extent possible, all materials in this bag are period authentic to c. 1820.

For a detailed look at "Post-Pandemic: Finding a New Direction" or more information about any of my bandolier bags created through the years, please click on the thumbnail photos below.

-- Martha Berry