A WHISPER FROM THE MOUNDS – Beaded Bandolier Bag by Martha Berry

Winner: People’s Choice Award, Art Under the Oaks Gallery Show 2006, Five Tribes Museum, Muskogee, OK

Winner: First Place, Beadwork Category, Commercial Division, Art Under the Oaks Gallery Show 2006, Five Civilized Tribes Museum, Muskogee, OK

Winner: Honorable Mention, Heard Museum Guild 2005 Indian Fair and Market Juried Competition, Cultural Items category, Phoenix, AZ, March 4, 2005

Size: Approx. 36”H x 16”W x 2”D

Materials: Glass beads on wool stroud, silk ribbon. To the extent possible, all materials are authentic to the early 19th century.

Using motifs taken from their pottery artifacts, Martha Berry created this bandolier bag to honor her Mound Builder ancestors. The Mound Builders, or Mississippian people, enjoyed a complex, well developed culture throughout what would later become the Southeastern United States.

By using these Mound Builder designs on pre-Removal Cherokee style beadwork, she has merged ancient design influences with early 19th century state-of-the-art materials to create a unique, contemporary look at Cherokee history through beads.