Stylish enough for a powwow or that special dinner date, this barrette was hand-made on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Approximately 4 inches wide. Native beadwork was extremely advanced in pre-Columbian times, including the delicate carving of beads from natural materials like shells, coral, turquoise, wood, amber, animal bones, horns, and teeth, and the intricate stitching of thousands of beads together. Glass beads were not used until the colonists brought them from Europe, but they quickly became part of American Indian culture. Today glass beads are the primary materials for traditional beaders of many tribes. “Bone jewelry from our animal nations was used to memorialize special relationships between man and animal: for example, horsehair taken from a warrior’s favorite horse and made into instruments to adorn oneself. Animals played significant part of relationships with their warrior counterparts and most favorably considered each other to be family.” - Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook (Oglala Lakota)