Quechan collar; ca. 1880<BR> Cotton, glass beads; w. 59 cm., l. 15 cm., w. fringe: 19 cm.<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> The Yuman tribes of the Lower Colorado River had a light complexion and wore their hair long, often clipping their bangs in a straight line right above the eyebrows. Men wore a large number of braids on their backs, with the tips wrapped with small red ribbons. The young men painted their faces, either partially or completely, in blue, red and yellow colors, and smeared their bare legs with the same pigments. Women decorated themselves with blue facial tattoos, notably on the chin, using designs of four to eight vertical single or double stripes and dots in between. Mothers painted their babies in a variety of colors, and adorned them with shell and bead jewelry.<BR> <BR> Because of the hot climate, Quechan and Mohave men and women traditionally went scantily clad. Men wore a gee-string, and women aprons of vegetal fibers. No footwear was worn except in the summer when the sand got too hot, and leather sandals provided protection. Beginning in the nineteenth century, women adorned themselves with broad wide and narrow collars, necklaces and bracelets of white and blue beads in tasteful designs, the collars often consisting of netted beadwork. To Ten Kate it seemed that blue was their favorite color, as exemplified in their facial tattoos, body painting, beadwork and calico skirts that began to replace the fiber aprons (Hovens 2010:46-49). Reporting on his fieldwork among the Mohaves, Kroeber (1925:739-740) later reported: "They took to imported glass beads more eagerly than most Californians … Men as well as women coiled strands of blue and white venetian beads in thick masses around their necks; women wound them around their wrists; and donned showy shoulder capes of a network of beads. A definite style seems to have evolved early, which made use almost wholly of the two colors mentioned."<BR> <BR> Beaded collars such as this one were worn by women and covered the shoulder and upper arms and breast. A multiple stranded necklace of blue and white beads worn tight around the neck as a choker often completed the outfit. These beaded collars began to be made around 1880 by the Quechans and Mohaves, and women wore these over their calico shirts or blankets. Mostly a combination of white and blue seed beads were used, with a string of pony or crow beads as extra decoration at the edges. The beads were strung on strands of cotton thread and woven vertically into a netted mesh, with beads forming knots in the weave. Quechan women used U-shaped wooden frames or pottery ollas as looms. Short loose strands or loops of beads could be applied to the underside of the collar as an extra fringe decoration, as in this specimen. Designs were always geometrical, either consisting of triangles, sometimes designated as "coyote teeth", or right-angular linear motifs, some probably derived from Piman basketry designs. The Mohaves called such beaded collars by the generic name for necklaces, hulap, or more specifically vethamam, meaning "the lengthy one", or, "where it ends, fits." It is not known whether the netted weave beaded collars originated among the Quechans or Mohaves. The earliest collars of this type are mentioned in the literature in 1883 and appear in studio photographs since 1884. Therefore, the collar Ten Kate collected among the Quechans in 1883 is probably the oldest extant specimen. Nowadays, a few Yuman bead workers still make netted weave collars and Indian women have adopted these items of apparel as part of the traditional tribal dress to be worn on special occasions (Orchard 1929:139,145-146; Tsosie 1992; Furst 2001:53,114,116-7,227-8).<BR> <BR> Pieter Hovens<BR> National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden; 2015<BR> <BR> Pieter Hovens, ed., American Indian Material Culture: the Ten Kate Collection, 1882-1888; National Museum of Ethnology and ZKF Publishers; Leiden and Altenstad, 2010. Alfred L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California; Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 78; Washington, D.C., 1925. William C. Orchard, Beads and Beadwork of the American Indians; Museum of the American Indian; New York, 1929. Michael P. Tsosie, Historic Mohave Bead Collars; in: American Indian Art Magazine 18/1:36-49; 1992.<BR> <BR> <BR> 362-69<BR> Quechan beaded collar; glass, cotton; w. 59 cm., l. 15 cm, (with fringe, 19 cm.); ca. 1880.<BR> Quechan vertically netted weave beaded collar, showing signs of wear. These beaded collars covered the shoulder and upper arms and breast. A multiple stranded necklace of blue and white beads worn tight around the neck as a choker often completed the outfit (see: RMV 362-70). Such beaded collars began to be made around 1880 by the Quechans and Mohaves, and women wore these over their calico shirts or blankets. Mostly a combination of white and blue seed beads were used, with a string of pony or crow beads as extra decoration on rims. The beads were strung on strands of cotton thread and woven vertically into a netted mesh, with beads forming knots in the weave. As looms Quechan women used U-shaped wooden frames or pottery ollas. Short loose strands or loops of beads could be applied to the underside of the collar as an extra fringe decoration, as in this specimen. Designs were always geometrical, either consisting of triangles, sometimes designated as "coyote teeth", or right-angular linear motifs, some probably derived from Piman basketry designs. The Mohaves called such beaded collars by the generic name for necklaces, hulap, or more specifically vethamam, meaning "the lengthy one", or, "where it ends, fits." It is not known whether the Yuman netted weave beaded collars originated among the Quechans or Mohaves. The earliest Yuman collars of this type are mentioned in the literature in 1883 and appear in studio photographs since 1884. The collar Ten Kate collected among the Quechans is probably the oldest extant specimen. It can not be determined with certainty whether it was made by a Quechan or Mohave bead worker. A few contemporary Yuman bead workers still make netted weave collars and Indian women have adopted these items of apparel as part of the traditional tribal dress to be worn on special occasions (Orchard 1929:139,145-146; Smith 1977:95; Conn 1979:234; Stewart 1983:68; Trippel 1984:176; Tsosie 1992; Furst 2001:53,114,116-7,227-8).<BR> (Pieter Hovens 2008-09)