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Melissa Maccini

ART 5

Professor Seban

October 2014

Point of View Paper

Is it possible for a souvenir to be a piece of fine art? Souvenirs are generally thought of as

cheap, mass produced items purchased to be given or kept as a memento of a place visited or a

special occasion. But, some souvenirs are hand-made involving a skill or craft. Fine art is defined

in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as creative art concerned primarily with the creation of

beautiful objects and an activity requiring great skill or accomplishment. It is with these

definitions in mind that I have explored the question of whether the whimsies sold as souvenirs

by the Iroquois in Niagara Falls are souvenir or art. Many experts in art and Native American

studies have weighed in on the discussion and offered their opinions and support to this

controversy.

Whimsies is a term used to refer to beadwork created by the Iroquois groups that were

located in northern part of New York and eastern Canada beginning in the late 19th century and

continuing into the early 20th century. The Iroquois were always known for their beadwork and

originally the beads were created from bone, shells, and the shaft of the feather. As time

progressed, these Eastern Woodlands Natives welcomed the Venetian glass beads that the

European explorers had for trade. The Iroquois appreciated these translucent glass beads because

they had always associated white, brilliant items with light, knowledge and peace.1 They used

these beads to decorate pincushions, purses, picture frames, needle cases and wall hangings.

1 Iroquois Beadwork and Baskets, Vassar College, Accessed April 20, 2015,
http://faculty.vassar.edu/lucic/formsofexchange/beadwork_baskets.html.
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Many of these items were sold near Niagara Falls to the tourists as a memento of their visit to the

falls. The tourists also associated the area with the Native Americans, so taking home a souvenir

that was crafted by the Iroquois was the perfect combination.

The sketch I have done is an example of a whimsy that might have been purchased at Niagara

Falls in 1900.2 The high-heel boot shape was one of the more common shapes created as pin

cushions associated with the Iroquois. I am unable to tell by the picture, but many were open at

the top so that scissors, Victorian hat pins and needles could be kept inside. The material on the

top was most likely blue velvet and the beads were translucent and small pink beads. This

particular item exemplifies the beadwork of the Iroquois with the crowding of beads in the area

to raise them up and create a three-dimensional look. There are also the overlay beads around the

edges of tight beading to limit the need of sewing of the binding. Birds on branches with the

wings up, leaves, and flowers were frequently used on the whimsies sold in Niagara. These

designs had a symmetrical appearance because they were all similar in size and were designs

were created with curved beaded lines. To further demonstrate this was a souvenir the words

from Niagara Falls were included.

In order to take the discussion of whimsies as souvenir or fine art to another level, we must look

to experts in this area. Beverly Gordon provided a historical view of the Native American gay

embroidery in her article Souvenirs of Niagara Falls: The Significance of Indian Whimsies.

Gordon experience as a professor for 20 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison teaching

material culture and a research focus on the meanings of objects in peoples lives provide support

to her Gordon used documentary evidence to show that the bead covered items referred to as

whimsies were sold near Niagara Falls for over 100 years. Her first example of documentation

2 Ibid.
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was a tourist brochure from 1884 that describe the Indian maids and their mothers with their

brightly colored embroidery which she believes referred to the Tuscarora women that lived on

the reservation near the falls and the beadwork that they were especially well known for. She

also referenced a visitors guide to Niagara Falls from 1852 that specifically mentions that there

are Tuscarora women every day selling their beadwork. Gordon draws a parallel that the Falls

were particularly marketed to the romantics celebrating their wedding and that the white people

were beginning to romanticize Indian history. Taking home an item created by the Indians was

providing the visitors with the opportunity to take home a memento of their trip to Niagara.3 Ms.

Gordon continues to question the value of the whimsies by suggesting there were imposters that

sold the whimsies during that period. She referenced two satirical stories, one by Mark Twain

and another by Bricktop. That suggested there was a well-known deception that was going

around the Falls where the Irish were posing as Indians and aggressively selling imposter

mementoes.4 Because only some of the whimsies were created on-site and most were sewn on

the reservations during the winter this created a challenge with ensuring the item was authentic.

She believes that the abundance of whimsies from this time period that can be found in

museums, antique stores, and markets show that very large quantities of the beadwork were sold.

She also states that by 1940 the tradition of whimsies had declined, but a revival did begin to

take place in the late 80s. She acknowledged that beadwork classes are available on the

Tuscarora reservation, but in her words, The special relationship between the Indian souvenirs

3 Beverly Gordon, Souvenirs of Niagara Falls: The Significance of Indian Whimsies, New
York History, Vol. 67, No. 4 (October 1986), p. 391, accessed April 3, 2015,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23177393

4 Ibid., 401.
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and the falls is gone, and the whimsies are no longer even significant mementoes of Niagara.5

Gordon concludes by addressing the loss of importance and symbolism of the beautiful

beadwork because the pieces were marketed as tourist souvenirs and not Native American fine

art.6

In contrast to Ms. Gordons opinion, Richard Green published an article in the 2001 Bead

Society of Great Britain calling the whimsies misunderstood. Mr. Green is the owner of an art

gallery in London, which has for three generations been internationally known for traditional and

classical art from the 17th through the 21st century. In the 2001 article Iroquois Beaded

Whimsies, he does acknowledge that large quantities of the quality beadwork were produced

beginning in the 1840s. He continued by noting that by the 1850s, ladies and needlework

manuals published directions for making the Iroquois style beadwork. While acknowledging that

the primary reason these items were purchased were for souvenirs of visits to Niagara Falls, Mr.

Green notes that these articles appealed to Victorian taste and that the reason a surprisingly

large number have survived in virtually mint condition, reflects the cherished status they

occupied in Victorian and Edwardian homes. Mr. Green examined hundreds of whimsies and

called them all a delightful fusion of the utilitarian and the decorative.7 While noting that the

whimsies represented the worst excesses of the Victorian era, lacking in serious ethnographical

worth, he acknowledged that these items were gaining in popularity again. He made a special

5 Ibid., 408.

6 Ibid., 409.

7 Richard Green, Iroquois Beaded Whimsies, Beaded Society of Great Britain,

Newsletter 2001, Vol 58, pp. 11-15, accessed April 3, 2015,
www.beadsociety.org.uk/pdf/NL58_pll_15.pdf.
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note that the Iroquois people were especially interested in the revival of interest.8 Mr. Green

specifically acknowledged the value of the culture and skill and confirmed this by then number

of art exhibitions and museums that were including these pieces of American beadwork.

Perhaps, the most qualified to weigh in on this discussion is Ruth Phillips. Ms. Phillips is an art

history professor at Carleton in Ottawa, Canada. Her post-doctoral research was focused on

indigenous arts of North America which resulted in publication of two books that include

information on the Iroquois whimsies beadwork. The first book, Native North American Art, was

co-authored with Janet Berlo and then Phillips followed up in 1997 with Trading Identities: the

Souvenir in Native North American Art From the Northeast, 1700-1900. As Ms. Gordon had

stated in her article, Ms. Phillips emphasized the souvenir presence of the Tuscarora beadwork

sellers on the American side. She goes on to discuss the villages becoming the venue for selling

the souvenirs in order to guarantee the authenticity. 9 Ms. Phillips also wrote of the major impact

of the railroad travel during the mid-nineteenth century on the souvenir production. 10 But

Phillips says that we should not minimize the works that tribal artists created for economic

reasons and that were designed for a particular audience. We know the whimsies were created as

souvenirs for sale especially in the Niagara Falls area because many included beaded writing like

from Niagara Falls, souvenir, good luck, and Montreal. What Phillips tells us is that just

because they were souvenirs, they should not be less culturally significant. She describes the

artists techniques of using clear beads to catch the light while using colored beads to add visual

8 Ibid. 15.

9 Ruth Phillips, Trading Identities The Souvenir in Native North American Art from
the Northeast, 1700-1900 (Hong Kong, University of Washington Press, 1998), 31

10 Ibid. 32
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contrast. The Native American women developed a type of beading that created three-

dimensional style by looping strands of clear over colored beads and sewing them tightly

together. Phillips continued by saying, This style is identified with the very core of Iroquois

aesthetic and cultural traditions.11 As a major scholar that has researched the Iroquois beadwork,

Phillips has inspired others to appreciate the creations and consider the people that made them

artists.

I am not surprised that the whimsies created by the Iroquois and sold as souvenirs primarily in

the Niagara Falls area are the subject of debate of whether they are considered fine art. If we

look back on the definition of fine art as creative beautiful objects that require great skill or

accomplishment to create, then the whimsies that were hand-made and purchased to be given as

a gift or kept as a memento of a trip are qualified to be considered art. What is aesthetically

pleasing to one, may not be to the next person, but there is no denying that the Iroquois

beadwork has historical value and demands a skillful hand that should be appreciated as fine art.

Support for my view can be found in galleries, exhibitions and high-priced ebay auctions that

currently have listings for this art form. Whimsies may have begun their existence as souvenirs,

through appreciation of the creativity and skill, they are now art.

11 Ibid. 262
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Bibliography

Berlo, Janet Catherine and Phillips, Ruth B. Native North American Art. Oxford, New York:
Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, 1998.
Forms of Exchange: Iroquois Beadwork and Baskets. Art of Native Peoples from the Edward
J. Guarino Collection, Vassar College. Accessed April 20, 2015.
http://faculty.vassar.edu/lunic/formsofexchange/beadwork_baskets.html
Gordon, Beverly. Souvenirs of Niagara Falls: The Significance of Indian Whimsies, New York
History, Vol. 67, No. 4 (October 1986), pp. 389-409, accessed April 3, 2015,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23177393
Green, Richard. Iroquois Beaded Whimsies, Newsletter of the Bead Society of Great Britain,
Vol. 58, 2001, pp. 11-15, accessed April 3, 2015,
http://www.beadsociety.org.uk/pdf/NL58_p11_15.pdf
Phillips, Ruth B. Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the
Northeast, 1700-1900. University of Washington Press; printed in Hong Kong: Getty
Grant Program, 1998.
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