An Early Delaware, Lenape Tribe Beaded Bag

Delaware Tribe - The Lenape People

Circa 1850 | Glass Beads, Cloth, Thread | Item 2700

This is a beautiful Delaware, also know originally as the Lenape People, beaded bag trimmed with white pony beads. The interior spaces are beaded with fine, glass, seed beads in the colors of ruby red, red with white hearts, mustard yellow, green, deep blue, white and a pearl white. The beads are all sewn with a fine thread. The larger spaces are done in the contour style, and the bordering spaces in a latticed style. The effect is striking; not just in the variation of colors, but in the quality of how the beads shape the spaces. The top is trimmed with beige, silk ribbon and the interior has calico cloth on both sides with red lined flowers. This is an early masterpiece of modern art!

The Lenape were originally from the Delaware river along the Eastern Seaboard, in lower present day New York, Eastern New Jersey and along Western Long Island. This is where they were located in the early 17th century. They were the first tribe to sign a treaty with the new United States in 1778. Despite the treaty, the Lenape were forced to cede their Eastern lands and moved first to Ohio and later to Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and Indian Territory. Traditionally, the Lenape were divided into the Munsee, Unami, and Unalachtigo, three social divisions determined by language and location.