Snake River Native American copper rolled beads

Content Description

Found in the area around Kennewick, Washington, where the Snake River and Columbia River meet. The Native Americans had and used copper for many years before the Europeans settled in the area, but the Europeans also brought new, more valuable copper to the area. There are approximately fifty rusted, broken, and green copper tubes approximately 1/4" in diameter. According to a handwritten note dated Sept. 1977 attached to the original Pacific Museum records from donor Edith Hansen McGill, the beads were probably from a grave. Collectors in the area around Kennewick, Washington, where the Snake River and Columbia River meet, brought the beads to Cashmere Curio shop where the McGills then bought them in the 1960s. According to McGill, Native Americans had and used copper before the white settlers came to Washington, but when the Europeans brought copper, it was determined to be more valuable than what the Native Americans already had. Olivella shells were found with the copper. At the time of the note, McGill states that the Kamloops museum had a mummy decorated with this type of bead and some of the earliest trade beads (small, white). The burial was found in a city center during road building.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Restrictions Apply

No