Trade Beads

Short story by Guy Darrough

The time is 1780, the place is southern Alabama.

The trader unfolded a colorful wool blanket, sat down and began removing various leather bags from his pack. The strings on each bag were drawn tight and they bulged with a mysterious content. The small gathering of Indians was now getting larger and louder, tightening in a circle around him. He could hear his horse Dusty snorting nervously behind him. He briefly glanced at his knife lying next to him on the blanket, his flintlock musket was well out of reach.

A hand inquisitively reached out, prodding one of the leather bags with a long, dark finger. Another fellow, making low sounds like the growl of a wolf, pressed in for a closer look; the polished brass disk he wore from his neck flashed as it caught the low rays of the morning sun. Just then a slight breeze carried the smell of wood smoke and horses past the traders nose. He was uneasy; he felt for his flintlock pistol inside his coat, reassured, it was loaded, cocked and ready just in case.

Their language was new to him and he could sense their growing agitation. But he could also tell they were interested in what he had in the bags. One Indian, festooned with shell ornaments, was gesturing for him to leave and kicked a plume of dust onto the blanket. The trader held his breath as the dust floated past his face. Another clutched his war club and was making menacing gestures, the broken tip of an old Spanish sword protruded from the club's head. He knew that the situation could get worse and within a flash he imagined a desperate plan - he may have to shoot some poor soul and hope to reach his horse in time. But the trader kept his cool, trying to look unconcerned, he continued to sort his goods on the blanket.

The tension of mounting curiosity broke when one of the Indians snatched a bag, but in his haste it slipped from his grasp, falling back to the blanket and spewing its contents. The crowd let out a collective gasp and fell quiet. The contents radiated outwards from the bag and sparkled with a brilliance they had never seen before. The trader picked up one of the objects and held it up to the sunlight, swirling it around in his fingers, the facets creating prismatic colors that dazzled the crowd. At that moment he felt like a wizard, they were only glass beads, but they were pure, sparkling magic to the onlookers.

One older woman anxiously gestured, could she hold one? The trader dropped a transparent, blue bead with large facets into her wrinkled hand, she smiled and held it to the light and gave a long sigh. The trader opened more bags of beads, sorting out piles of transparent blue, lavender, amber and milky white. Some were opalescent and as large as a pigeon's egg, some looked like crystal mulberries, and others like small, transparent onions. The old woman held the azure bead up to one ear for approval, the other women, wide-eyed, nodded in appreciation. The surface of the blanket twinkled irresistibly.

His long and dangerous journey had not been futile. The crowd was smiling now, he had them mesmerized, it was time to get down to some serious trading.

The Irresistible Lure of Sparkling Glass

The above story, with colorful variations, was repeated untold times during the early contacts between Native tribes and Europeans. At that time Indians had never seen glass, and a simple bead was an almost mystical experience. Before the contact with Europeans, shell, stone and bone were the basic materials used to make adornments. And even though these materials had been used to create beautiful beads and ornaments, it was a time consuming process.

The Europeans however, had long ago mastered the art of working with glass, and making beads was a simple process by comparison. The brilliance and color of glass beads impressed the Native tribes, and traders wasted no time importing them by the barrel. This stimulated European glass houses to make more beads specifically for trade and hundreds of types were created.

In modern times trade beads are sometimes found in plowed fields, excavations and old village sites. Many of the trade beads in museums today were found in the early 1900's by people who farmed these old village sites and were curious about the people that used the beads. It would be respectful to remember though, that these artifacts were the property of some person, and they reflect the aesthetic tastes of an individual and a culture.

Today, as they have for centuries past, ancient beads are highly prized by museums and collectors alike. Here are a few examples of early trade beads and trade goods that would have been available to various tribes during the 1600 and 1700's.

Photo: Alton Martin

This exceptional necklace is composed of bead types called pressed facets. They were made by piercing a small, molten glob of glass and then impressing
flat "facets" onto the surface with a wooden paddle. They were then quenched in water.

Photo: Alton Martin

Necklace composed of mostly clear, pressed facets with one Amber and a Mandrel wound bead. Mandrel beads were made by winding molten glass strands onto a metal wire, revolved by hand. As the wire is turned, the strands of glass builds up, creating a bead. Mandrel wound beads are found on very early sites.

Photo: Alton Martin

Necklace composed of clear Onions, Cornaline De Allepos, and Colbalt blue beads. Its easy to see why Native Tribes were impressed with the vibrant colors of glass.