Firebag, c. 1830, 12 1/4 × 26 1/2 in. ( × cm) (with tassels and cord), Wool, beads, United States, 19th century, In the early 1800s, a particular kind of elaborately beaded bag—a firebag—captured the imagination of Native women artists in the Subarctic, the Northern Plains, and some coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest. Firebags were made to store tobacco and flint, and are also known as Octopus Bags, a reference to their dangling, tentacle-like tabs at the base of the pouch. This particular firebag displays beadwork similar to that of the Dakhóta, Metis, and Cree peoples


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Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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