The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1911-11-03
STRING of little black beads,
linked together with gold,
brought to Indianapolis \ few

STRING or little BLACK BEADS,
linked together with gold,
brought to Indianapolis few
IN days ago ia regarded by anti
quarians of the far west as
substantial evidence in support Of the
theory that the American Indians are
of old world descent.
The beads were a present to Mrs
Claire Bell, 42S North Alabama street,
from her mother, Mrs. B. l. Garfield.
who is a teacher in the Sherman in
stitute. a school for Indian children
at Riverside, CAL, and they are the
work Of the girls in the school.
The beads are pellets about the size
of pea and jet black. They are hard
and metallic to the touch, but are as
light as paper. The wonderful Pc
culiarity about them is that they have
a strong, agreeable odor of roses, an
odor that never will leave them. and it
is this popularity that makes them OF
such interest to antiquarians.
For, according to Mrs. Garfield. who
received her information from a pa
per published by a California anti
quarian who became absorbed in the
study Of the beads-not this particular
string, but others like them made by
the Indian girls of the southwest
beads remarkably similar to these
have been found in the pyramids of
Egypt and in temples of oriental an
tiquity. Those beads, in spite of the
fact that they had been buried for
scores of centuries, still retained a
strong, delicate scent of roses.
A comparison of these beads with
rare strings Of beads in the possession
of Indians of the southwest, who are
supposed to have migrated north from
the Inca settlements in Peru. showed
them to be identical AS the beads
were wholly unlike anything else Of
known existence. the conclusion was
reached that the ancestors of the In
dams must have been either the max
ers of the beads found in. the pyra-
mids or their ancestors.
White men were deeply puzzled
over the composition Of the beads.
and it was supposed that the manufac-
ture of them must be one of the lost
arts. But when the Indians discov-
cred thu interest that had been
aroused in their relics, they found
that the method of making them had
been transmitted through the tribe by
tradition. They set to work. accord
ingly, and duplicated the pellets. to
the establishment Of the white men.
The secret of the Indians did not
remain exclusively tribal for very
long, however. since a great demand
arose at once for the rose-scented
beads The art was taught to large
number of the Indians. and from then,
it leaked out, until now there is no
longer a mystery about their manu-
facture..
But the novelty of it is just as inter
esting as the mystery. The secret of
the scent Of roses is that the beads
are actually made of rose petals.
The Indian girls at our school hold
parties to make the beads" said Mrs
Garfield. much on the order Of the
fudge parties of their white sisters, or
or quilting parties.
They gather bushels and bushels of
rose plants, which grow, as you know.
in profuse abundance In California.
They grind these petals up very fine.
running them through grinder seven
times seven times-you mustn't say
fortr-nine times, for there Is a mystic
significance to them in the expression
seven times seven which is lost in
the prosaic forty-nine.' and this mys-
ticism, they believe, has an important
part in the result of their labors.
when the petals are properly
ground they are PIT Afto iron pans
and tincture of iron is poured over
them. That ends the first party. for
it is necessary to let the mixture set
for several days. so that the tincture
will eat into the iron Of the pan and
color the composition black Every
time one of the girls passes pan dur
ing this period of 'ripening' she stirs
the mixture with her hands. Sc that 1t
will have the proper color and con-
sistency all the way through
After the mixture has 'ripened' the
girls gather again to make. 1t into
beads. It is a black, viscous sub
stance, thick enough to remain in any
shape into which it may be rolled. The
moisture in 1t has been supplied by
the juice Of the rose petals. which
runs out in surprising quantity during
the process Of grinding. and by the
tincture of iron.
The girls take small quantities of
this yiscous substance from the pans
and roll them into pellets such as you
see In this string. They, are very deft
1t the work and very painstakiniS not
leEs .llsltlskks. &. a. s.a.L ~ - ..Jl