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Lesson submitted by Kris Dirksen (4th grade teacher) of South Ridge School.
Bandolier bags are large, heavily beaded pouches with a slit at the top. They have a beaded strap worn diagonally over the shoulder, thus resting the bag at hip level. The design is created using glass beads, a European trade good that replaced the traditional porcupine quills. The bags themselves are typically constructed from trade cloth, such as cotton, wool, velvet, or leather, and were traditionally worn by men.
Students will create a version of the bandolier bag for use throughout the school year to collect and keep their resources and materials from our Native American Studies project.
See related lesson plans: Floral Motifs in Ojibwe Cultures and Beading with Community Artists
Share images or examples of beaded woodland patterns with students, whether they're electronic examples provided in the resource materials section or real samples you bring in.
Show your bag design and talk about the motif, and the influences of woodland patterns for the regional tribes of the Great Lakes.Demonstrate the process you would like the students to use, based on the approach you took with your bag design.
Students showcase their bags to the class and talk about their design motif inspirations.
Students used traditional and historical bag and beading motifs to research design and create their version of a bandolier bag for classroom use.
Comments
The bag can be guided in many ways. It is best for the teacher to first design their bag and from that experience plan the route they will ask students to create bags. The type of bag, size and materials used create various challenges and benefits when decorating.