You might be wondering why Google is displaying beadwork in its search bar. That’s a Google Doodle, and it’s honoring Native American heritage month.
“This Doodle honors the traditions, stories, and languages of Indigenous communities through the artform of beadwork,” Google explained. “What has long been a form of cultural expression and identity has been carried into contemporary jewelry, sculpture, apparel, and mixed media by artists working today. All objects were stewarded from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.”
You can learn more about the objects and Native American heritage on the website of the National Museum of the American Indian.
The Objects Featured by Google Come From the Plains Apache, Coushatta & Kickapoo People
Google gave these details about the doodle:
Plains Apache (Naisha/Kiowa Apache) clothing/garment ornaments
- 🎨 Plains Apache (Naisha/Kiowa Apache)
- 📅 ca. 1890-1909
- 🧵 Hide, glass bead/beads
- 📍National Museum of the American Indian
Featured on @Google Instagram:
Coushatta sash
- 🎨 Coushatta (Koasati)
- 📅 ca. 1875
- 🧵Wool cloth, glass beads, silk ribbon
- 📍National Museum of the American Indian
Kickapoo hair ornament
- 🎨 Kickapoo
- 📅 ca. 1900
- 🧵 Cotton cloth, silk ribbon, glass beads, mother of pearl buttons
- 📍National Museum of the American Indian
Here is the website for one of the Kickapoo tribes. You can learn about the Coushatta through their website. Learn about the Apache tribe of Oklahoma here.
“The goal of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma is the preservation of our culture, heritage and past while ensuring the success, furtherance and increased opportunities for each tribal member as we move to establish a brighter future which will provide enrichment and hope,” the latter website says. “As we move forward it is our sincere desire to establish programs that will educate and equip the Apache tribal members with the necessary skills, tools and resources they need to build a prosperous future for them and their families.”
The Library of Congress Also Has Resources on Native American History
According to the the Library of Congress, in the fifteenth century, “when European settlers began to arrive in North America, the continent was richly populated with Native American communities. Hundreds of thousands of people lived in a wide range of environments from shore to shore, each community or nation with its own distinct culture.”
The summary notes, “The centuries that followed the arrival of Europeans were years of tremendous upheaval, as the expansion of settler territory and the founding and growth of the United States resulted in Native American communities being moved, renamed, combined, dispersed, and, in some cases, destroyed.”
The National Museum of the American Indian “is located on the south side of the National Mall between the National Air and Space Museum and the US Botanic Gardens, across from the National Gallery of Art East Building. Entrance to the museum is at Third Street and Maryland Avenue, SW, facing the US Capitol Building,” according to its website.
Native American Heritage Month Celebrated in Beadwork Google Doodle