Very elaborate beaded design, strikingly bold - beautiful traditional Wabanaki beadwork design on a shoulder bag that has been made by Paul St John, Mohawk craftsman. Front, back and strap are of vintage black wool with the interior lined with vintage blue floral design calico cotton. Bag and strap are edged with red silk ribbon. - Bag is entirely hand sewn and hand beaded.
Traditionally worn across the shoulder, this bag has very old and elaborate traditional Wabanaki designs on front. The solid color white glass seed beads are vintage. Flap design is of white beads with double curve on top with X's and V's. Bag's front below the flap has an even more intricate double curve designs with a beaded "fan-like" design
The bag is 10" long, the width is 8.5" and the strap is 27" from top center of strap to side of bag at it's attachment point. Strap is 2.25" wide. Flap folds over opening and hangs down 4"...
Wabanaki & Iroquois traditionally made and used various types of bags, medicine bags and shoulder bags, of varying styles, sizes, materials and designs. The Wabanaki confederation tribes include Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and MicMac (Mi'kmaq is one of the Canadian spellings of MicMac).
You can use this as part of your regalia, it would hold quite a lot inside - wallet, medicine pouch, etc. Or you can use it as a spectacular display piece.
Paul St. John now lives in Maine, near his mother's Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac relatives. He is an enrolled Mohawk and grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father's tribe. 2nd from last photo in slideshow is of Paul St John and 2 of his other works. Last photo is of his Mohawk grandmother, Amelia St John who taught him beading.
Paul St John also makes birchbark, porcupine quill and coiled sweetgrass baskets, beaded knife cases, traditional dolls, water drums, birch bark rattles, beaded barrettes and moccasins among numerous other traditional crafts - check out more of his work in this ebay store.