Image

Purple and white beaded belt with a geometric diamond pattern and loose maroon warp thread ends.
Detail-view of the warp threads of a purple and white beaded belt, braided to be thicker than the thinner white weft.
Top-view of a purple and white beaded belt with loose thread ends alongside a cream, red, and green-gray woven satchel with a braided strap and tassels. Both feature geometric patterns.
Close-up of the patterned beaded belt patterned with striated white shells within rows of striated purple shells, woven together with maroon and white thread.
Detail-view of the patterned beaded belt constituted by rows of uniformly sized cylindrical beads carved from shells with purple and white striations, woven together with maroon thread.
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Elizabeth James Perry

Star Scape Wampum Belt

Description

Maker

Elizabeth James Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag, b. 1973)

Culture

Aquinnah Wampanoag, Native American (culture)

Title

Star Scape Wampum Belt

Year

2021

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

8.9 x 35.6 cm (3 1/2 x 14 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund

Object Number

2021.43.1

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

Elizabeth James-Perry’s multidisciplinary work includes wampum shell and Northeast twined textiles. Hailing from Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), she learned her artistry from her mother and cousins. About these works, she writes: 

Shells and plant fibers are local and sustainable, likewise natural dyes from nuts, barks, and roots. Gathering wild materials is a pleasant way to travel throughout Wampanoag tribal homelands in modern-day eastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. [These two works] represent many thousands of years of Native traditional ecological knowledge . . . . they are both ancient and young in that sense.

—SB

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Tombstone

Elizabeth James Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag, b. 1973)
Star Scape Wampum Belt, 2021
Quahog shell wampum tubular beads on hand-spun naturally dyed milkweed plant cordage warps
8.9 x 35.6 cm (3 1/2 x 14 inches)
Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund 2021.43.1

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