Cree beadwork

This Cree beaded vest is held in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian or NMAI, located in Washington DC. The Cree are a Canadian First Nation who inhabited the woods and plains of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. As with many native peoples of the Americas, trade with Europeans introduced new ideas and materials including small glass beads and embroidery. Beading styles can be the typical Plains geometric or the woodlands floral, both celebrated nature and the relationships of humans to the cosmos.
Clothing styles also changed with contact; by the mid 1800s many native people were wearing vests that became popular with Wild West Shows and other forms of the tourist encounter. Many examples of beaded vests appear in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with lovely examples still made today.