Description

These glass beads were found inside House 3 (level 2) of Fort Albany, a historic Hudson’s Bay trading post in James Bay. Glassmiths added blue pigment to molten glass, stretched it into a hollow tube, and cut it into bead-sized sections using a chisel-like tool. The sections were then tumbled with charcoal and sand to produce the beads’ characteristic globular shape. Glass beads are trade goods that were European in origin but became integrated into northeastern North American Indigenous lifeways and ceremonial practices. Indigenous people embroidered these beads on jewelry, clothing, belts, and bags and incorporated them into rituals.