2-723-488 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Bandolier (Shoulder) Bag, 1880s?. Inspired perhaps by British ammunition pouches, bandolier bags evolved from smaller native bags, similar to another in this case, to become one of the flashiest, most important items of Woodlands formal attire during the 1800s. Europeans introduced floral motifs to Woodlands imagery, but artists’ enthusiastic response suggests the motifs struck a chord in native thought, which holds plants to be animate and powerful. This example features blueberries, literally "soul food" that refreshes the spirit of the living and the dead, and alludes to new seasonal growth.