When Frank Bergevin learned that two Oneida Elders were planning to replicate pieces of beadwork from the Nation’s collection, he was elated.

Frank, an avid collector and antiques dealer with a degree in anthropology, was behind the Nation’s acquisition of much of its accumulated beadwork.

“This is my dream come true, having these women [Laurel Parker (Turtle Clan) and Linda Williams (Turtle Clan)] make whimsies similar to those in the collections,” said Frank.

“They are the people to tell the story, the meaning of the pieces and how the work affected them. By making their own versions of the whimsies, they will be telling their own story – a takeoff of an older story that is still part of their tradition.

“Only a native person can make others understand the meaning of this material. It’s not work to be judged by Western taste. It needs a native sensitivity.”

Frank has amassed his knowledge of the Haudenosaunee art forms over years of collecting. He noted the beaded works were originally considered mere tourist keepsakes until 1985. That year, in London, whimsies were displayed for the first time as a unique art form.

A few years later, in the 1990s, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York displayed an Oneida fruit basket that was chosen as an example of one of the finest pieces of design in the world from the late 1800s, he said.

The McCord Museum in Montreal also began to feature native art. “So now it was considered art, not just souvenir items,” said Frank. “With Gerry Biron’s* current touring exhibit, “Made of Thunder — Made of Glass,” beadwork is again saluted.

“It’s so important for native people to know these items are shown for the people who made them, not for the people who collected them.”

The Haudenosaunee creators of the pieces were adept marketers, expertly gauging the taste of their audience. Tourist areas were hotspots for selling the beadwork. Niagara Falls was particularly popular with Europeans during the 1800s for their honeymoons.

Thus pincushions, needle cases and the like were made as souvenirs for women. The crafters geared their work toward Western tastes. Thunderbirds were unknown to the Europeans, so the native artisan substituted a dove or an eagle.

“So if I were to put myself in the place of a native artist, I would make my work true to my belief system, but also make it to sell,” said Frank. “Some of the items were commissioned. I had one needle case with a Masonic emblem beaded on it. Beading was a survival strategy.”

Oneidas, however, are mainly noted for their basket work in the 1800s, said Frank. The fur trade was over and new ways of subsisting were needed. Men cut and chopped the trees and made work and pack baskets, while the women made fancy baskets.

Designs adorned many of the baskets, either hand-painted or made by a potato stamp — where the artist would cut a design into the potato and then dip it into paint or dye.

Oneidas employed the painting method more often, said Frank. Chrome yellow, Spanish brown, indigo, opaque green and peach pink were the colors most used. Their basketmaking was influenced by the Northeastern Algonquin, who were taken in by the Oneida. The Algonquin, said Frank, had a rich basketmaking tradition. Each group shared its own unique style and together created a new form of basket making.

Today, innovative art designs are still taking form — toaster covers with beadwork, beaded sneakers and more &,dash; that will become the new collectibles, he said. The new art will become a part of tradition.

The Oneidas’ existing collections — baskets and beadwork — hold significance for them, allowing them to see and to feel what was made before and to tell the story of these items, said Frank, adding:

“I love the material, but I’ll never understand it like a native person. Only a native person can make others understand the meaning of this material.”

*The exhibition “Made of Thunder, Made of Glass: American Indian Beadwork of the Northeast” includes over 100 beaded bags and hats created between 1800 and 1915 and has been exhibited at four museums: Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine in 2006; the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Mass. in 2007; the Mt. Kearsarge Museum in Warner, N. H. in 2008; and the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington, Ct. in 2009.