The Sioux Indian tribes were vastly different from any other tribes when it came to beadwork. Long before the Sioux were granted glass beads by traders, they mastered the skill of decorating porcupine quills to customize their clothing and belongings. To diversify the quills, they dyed them in an array of colors such as red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple. Until around the year 1880, when they were traded aniline (oily liquid) dyes, the colors were much darker and less of a variety of shades. The Sioux would bead mostly on a fully white background and avoided using colors that were similar to that background. In addition, blue and green were rarely used on the same article of cloth or fabric. The designs were unique, using mostly geometrical shapes and patterns along with seldom-used figures of horses or birds. Much of these facts prove the fact that the Sioux are a one-of-a-kind tribe.
By Devin Cazin
By Devin Cazin
