Menominee medicine bag
Figure 2a
Source: Le Roy Appleton, American Indian Design and Decoration
The Native people of North America made beautiful beadwork designs on clothing, bags, and other items. Different nations developed their own styles. People in the Great Lakes region often made flower designs. The design in Figure 2a is on a Menominee medicine bag. Count the petals on the large flower. What else do you see in the design? Does the design have symmetry? What pattern do you see in the borders?
A young girl might learn to do beadwork with a simple flower design, like the one on the grid. Examine the grid. Each space measures ½ centimeter. Each small square is ¼ of a square centimeter. The flower has eight petals. About 30 beads can cover one square centimeter. Figure 2b
• Grid paper
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Colored pencils or markers
1. Count the number of squares covered by the flower. Use the symmetry of the design to make counting as simple as possible. Remember that each square on the paper measures ¼ square centimeter. How many square centimeters are covered by the flower?
2. Copy the flower on your grid paper and color it.
3. About how many beads does the design require? Work it out, then check your answer on page 154.
4. Suppose you want to make a design that was similar to this one but larger. You want the flower to have the same shape, but each part should have twice the length and twice the width of the original design. How many square centimeters will it cover on the grid paper? About how many beads will you need?
5. Draw this design on grid paper. Check your answers to the previous question. Were they correct?
1. Find examples of Native American beadwork. Do you notice that different peoples had different styles?
2. Look for instructions about doing beadwork and try it yourself.
3. The ancient Egyptians, 4,000 years ago, first made sketches on a grid before drawing larger designs on temple walls. Then the artist drew a larger grid on the wall. In this way the artist was able to keep the correct proportions in the figures. Look for pictures of paintings on Egyptian temple walls.
Figure 2b
