Handicrafts 151 type will give a wholly wrong conception of the appearance of the finished product.
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There is another type of bead which works up into many artistic forms. This is the tube bead, much like the old wampum. These beads are practically square, about %4 inch each way, and pierced with a much larger hole than any size of seed bead—so large indeed that they may be strung on thongs instead of threads. They are particularly useful in the making of armbands, garters, etc. When tube beads are strung on thongs, they are not worked on a loom. First, make four or five leather strips about 1% an inch wide and as long as the width of the finished arm band is to be. This strip is pierced with a hole at each spot where a row of beads will pass through; that is, about % inch apart. Now pass your thong through the uppermost hole in one leather strip, string five or six beads on the thong, then thread the thong through the uppermost hole in the next leather strip. Take up another five or six beads, and con- tinue till the required length is obtained. Fasten into the first leather strip to hold the circle. Then proceed to the remaining rows in the same manner. Or the band may be made in a long strip, and tied in place on the body when worn. These arm and leg bands are very effective if finished off with a pendant thong strung with beads and tipped with a few fluffy feathers.
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Breastplates may be made in the same way; or very good ones may be made of long ivory paper beads. The making of paper beads is an activity which is popular with our Little Lodge members. It is a real Woodcraft pur- suit, in that it costs practically nothing for material. These beads may be made of colored magazine covers, scraps or samples of wall paper ; and even printed newspapers make most attractively designed beads, no longer resembling print, but producing a beautiful mottled effect of coloring. But for breastplates, of which the Indians’ original were made of bone, the best material is a slightly creamy paper
