Bandoliertas

Delaware bandoleer bag; ca. 1850 Hide, cotton, silk, glass; pigment; bag: h. 26 cm., w. 28 cm. RMV 360-9961; acquired by the Royal Cabinet of Rarities from Mr. Goekoop, before 1880, “from an Indian chief” The flat square pouch of this bandoleer is made of black-dyed deerskin. The lower part is covered with multi-colored abstract designs in overlay or spot-stitch beadwork. Fine ribbon appliqué is sewn along the upper edge, holding red yarn tassels that once covered the upper part of the pouch. The bag is attached to a wide shoulder bandoleer of black cloth, decorated with multi-colored abstract designs in beadwork. This bandoleer is lined with printed cotton. It is not long ago that bandoleer bags of this type were regularly assumed to be of Southeastern origin on stylistic grounds, made by Creek and Cherokee Indians. However, as documentary evidence was lacking, the exact origins of black dyed bandoleer bags have long been a point of discussion. A combination of their relative age, apparent widespread provenance, and the relocation of various tribes who are attributed with making them have made exact attribution difficult. Over the past few decades, however, a large number of these bags with reliable documentation have been discovered, and all associated evidence points to Delaware Indians as their producers. American settlement during the eighteenth century forced the Delaware Indians to abandon their homeland on the Delaware River and move west. By 1830 the main body of the tribe had settled in Kansas, though several bands were living in Missouri and Texas. Hunting was still their preferred occupation, and many Delawares became famous as trappers in the Far West and as scouts for the U.S. Army. In the 1830s the American government perpetrated the ethnic cleansing of the southeastern states from its Native population: Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws and others. As a result, thousands of these tribes people were forced to resettle in the Indian Territory (today’s states of Oklahoma and Kansas). People naturally brought their cultural items with them (RMV 524-5). These other tribal decorative styles influenced the Delaware style, resulting in changes in the decoration of their own quilled black skin shot-pouches (RMV 865-7). Yet, Delaware identity was retained in the beadwork and several other details of this apparel. Up to the 1850s they still used black-dyed skin instead of cloth for their bandoleer bags. Moreover, the layout of the beadwork on the front of the pouch was similar to that of the quillwork on the old shot-pouches, while red yarn tassels replaced red-dyed hair tassels. Finally, the Delaware bandoleer makers used bolder, more massive, and wider beadwork designs than the Southeastern style. The uniform and regular layout of this beadwork suggests the use of cut-out patterns. The details of this particular example indicate a date of ca. 1850 for its production. These bandoleer bags were apparel for festive occasions; the large number of surviving examples indicates their popularity. It is remarkable that this outpouring of artistic creativity took place in a period of cultural disintegration and poverty. Apparently the Delaware Indians followed the example of the uprooted Southeastern Indians in creating colorful apparel as an almost defiant expression of their Indian identity. This innovative creativity of the Delaware women contributed to the emergence of a regional intertribal art style, referred to as “Prairie Style” beadwork. Ted J. Brasser (em.) Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa Bandeliertas voor het bewaren van buskruit en lood om kogels te maken, of voor proviand en persoonlijke bezittingen.