Beadwork quintanagalleries | Historic Bandolier Bag, c. 1890, Ojibwe Beadwork

Historic Bandolier Bag, c. 1890
Ojibwe Beadwork
trade wool, silk, velvet, cotton, glass beads
44" long x 12.25" wide

This exquisite bandolier bag was procured from Walpoles Antiques in London, England in 2024. This bag has been used and worn. It is in good condition, and it would be recommended that the bag be framed in plexiglass to preserve it for future generations.

The most populous tribe in North America, the Ojibwe live in both the United States and Canada and occupy land around the entire Great Lakes, including in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario. The ancestors of the Ojibwe lived throughout the northeastern part of North America and along the Atlantic Coast.

Bandolier Bags are highly treasured objects to the Ojibwe, and are traditionally presented as a gift to honor a worthy man. Early contact bandolier bags were made of hide and worn tucked into a belt. In the eighteenth century, Ojibwe women adopted the non-Native military style of the bandolier bag, and began to experiment with new materials and techniques, including fabrics, ribbons, porcupine quill work, and beading. 

Floral motifs came to prominence in the nineteenth century. These designs replaced the earlier geometric and cosmological symbols of earlier bags. Floral subject matter likely came from non-Native sources, and was adapted into a rich and unique visual language and method of making.