A Beautiful Tradition:

Ingenuity and

Adaptation in a Century of Plateau

Women’s Art

Adaptation—

The modification of a person, process or object to adjust to new or changing

resources, purposes, circumstances or surroundings.

Ingenuity—

The application of creativity and imagination; ingenuity is the process of developing and executing new ideas—often by building on existing skills and resources while incorporating new ones.

The Plateau region includes eastern Oregon and Washington, northern Idaho, NW Montana, and southern British Columbia.

Map of the Plateau Region and PeoplesCourtesy of the Wellpinit, WA, school district

Tribal Territories in Montana, 1855

The Plateau Tribes of Western Montana are: Kootenai, Pend D’Oreille, and Salish.After 1855, the Flathead Reservation was

established, diminishing their land base.

Cultural attributes of Plateau tribes

• Fishing cultures, harvesting salmon from the rivers.• Hunted, but were not totally dependent on big game for

food in the same way Plains tribes relied on bison.• Harvested edible plants in abundance; processed and

stored fruits, vegetables, roots, meat and fish for later use. • Lived in semi-permanent villages, moved seasonally

for harvesting and fishing. Some traveled to hunt bison.• Created a language-based geographical map by

naming many locations in reference to their resources.• Egalitarian societies; not stratified; women could lead. • Raised horses (some, like the Cayuse and Nez Perce) The Appaloosa is a Nez Perce breed.• Peaceful; generally not “military” cultures.• Long history of intertribal trade and social relations

(including conflict) with tribes of other regions, including the Blackfeet, Crow, and Shoshone.

Traditional Arts of the Plateau

Carving— created elaborate designs in stone, wood and bighorn sheep’s horns; carved items include utensils, dishes, tools, and ceremonial objects.

Basketry— coiled and twined baskets of various shapes and sizes, from many kinds of plant fibers; used for food/plant harvest & storage, transport, personal belongings, and clothing (twined hats similar to small baskets). Geometric patterns and plant dyes.

Decorative arts— decorated some clothing, many utilitarian objects; used shells, beads, bones; colored with dyes and pigments; fringes; some quillwork; imbrication.

Leather work— tanned hides, painted, fringed, decorated. Used rawhide for parfleche, painted with pigments made from mineral, animal and botanical ingredients.

Plateau Art: Painted Parfleche

Media—rawhide, paint made from minerals and animal fats, leather ties

Function—meat cases, transporting goods, general storage, gifts

Design style—geometricMotífs—triangles, bars, diamonds, primary colors Similar to Blackfeet,

Gros Ventre and other N. Plains tribes in style, design and color.

Plateau Art: Coiled Basketry

Materials—cedar root (darker), beargrass (lighter)Technique—coiled with reinforced rimDesign style—geometric, stair-step patternsFunction—harvesting, cooking, transporting

Plateau Arts: Twined Bags

Materials/Media: Corn husk Indian hemp (apocynum) Beargrass, dogbane Jute (after 1900) Plant-based dyes Aniline dyes (20th

cent.)

Techniques: Twining Imbrication (false embroidery)

Corn Husk Bags: Beauty & Utility

Function Harvesting edible

plants Storage of edible roots

Decoration & Design Geometric patterns False embroidery Use of natural materials

from own environment

Cultural Esthetic Materials, design/style

and composition—as well as bag—are part of cultural identity.

Technique: False embroidery (Imbrication)

Adaptation for new function: recycling harvest bag into belt

bag

Intertribal Trade: Plateau, Northern Plains, Great Basin

Fur trade brings new medium for Plateau art

Bead types and sizes:

Pony beads = over 1 cmSeed beads = less than

1cmOpaque (solid color)Translucent (semi-clear)Cut (faceted edges; also

called “Russian” beads)Greasy (appear murky)

Beads were made in Czechoslovakia, Italy,

Russia and other eastern European countries.

The influence of Chippewa, Cree & Métis beadwork on Plateau art

Tri-foliate designs, Scalloped

edges, Wide color range, Arbitrary

coloring, Reuse of materials,

Multicultural heritage

Early Foliate and Floral Designs

Transformation of the Flower Motíf

Twined flowers: Geometric, abstract design

style Twining technique is limited

to straight lines and sharp angles resulting in rectilinear shapes

Beaded flowers: Realistic, naturalistic style Two-needle appliqué permits

creation of curvilinear shapes and enhances realism. Flowers look real and identifiable.

Stars & Flowers in the 20th Century

Realism in Composition and Style

Plateau women used two-needle appliqué stitch technique for tightly-beaded curvilinear shapes. Native songbirds and flowers, like the glacier lily on the right, were done in realistic representation. Background (left) is contour style.

Boarding School Era and the influence of Victorian esthetics, 1880s-1920s

World War I: Indians as Americans

Ingenuity and 20th Century Design

Continuity of Cultural Identity through Women’s Art and

EstheticsMother and daughter in

ceremonial dress, Flathead

Reservation, July, 1906

Cornhusk bag from 1940, with 8-point “star” motíf— an artistic emblem of cultural identity

Woman’s beaded belt pouch with

foliate design, circa 1890-

1920

“Everything that I try to make, I try to make with the utmost quality in mind. I

don’t approve of making something with a frivolous attitude. Because no matter where that piece goes, I go with it,

because I put something [of myself] into it… …Following traditional aesthetics means you have to strive… You have to strive in a sense not for personal worthiness, but for an honoring statement to the Creator for what He has given you—to give respect to everything He has provided.”

— Joanne Bigcrane, Pend D’Oreille quill & bead artist, A Song to the Creator, p. 129-132

Created by Laura Fergusonfor the Montana Historical

Society

In conjunction with the temporary exhibit Tradition, Design, Color: Plateau

Indian Bags from the Fred Mitchell Collection

Copyright 2009, Montana Historical Society, Helena, MontanaWith Funding by the Montana Office of Public Instruction