NEZ PERCE' BLANKET STRIP

 This is another artifact I felt very lucky to have hired to restore.  It is seen in the above photo taken of the young Nez Perce' Annette Burke.  She was born in 1904, so this photo must have been taken I assume in the mid to late teens.   She is from a highly respected and important Nez Perce' family.

 The blanket strip was beaded on smoked braintan hide, as the Nez Perce, although living on the west side of the Rocky Mountains would take multi year long hunting trips to the Plains east of the Rockies.  No small feat by any means, as not only did they have the long journey of crossing the mountains horseback but they also were in other tribes territories while they were hunting.  Some of these tribes they were at odds with.  

The blanket this is mounted on is cloth produced for trade by the Hudsons Bay company in Canada (as there are stripes thru the selvage edge of it which was only sold up north.  But trade goods got around, so not out of the ordinary to find cloth like this on Nez Perce material.  Often it is seen used on Blackfeet art as well.  This blanket strip also has some of the colors favored by the Nez Perce's: Turquoise and Cobalt Blue, Cheyenne Pink, Greasy Yellow,  Pumpkin Yellow and Deep Rose Whitehearts.  It doesn't get any better than this strip.  It is sewn with sinew.

One of my favorite art artworks made by the Nez Perce'

Angela