qathet Museum & Archives
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"Russian Blue" Trade Beads

Object ID: 1977.25.1799   

For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, beads made from shell, pearl, bone, teeth, and stone were made and traded by Indigenous peoples across Canada. Once introduced, European-made glass beads quickly became popular among Indigenous groups, fuelling a system of trade and barter.

Due to the ease of use and brilliant colours offered by glass beads, they were highly sought after by Indigenous people. As Europeans moved west across Canada over time, the use of glass beads by Indigenous peoples did as well, and soon most groups were utilizing glass beads in some way. Beads became symbols of status, and were used to embellish personal items such as clothing, bags, and baby carriers, or were worn as jewellery.

In fact, the most commonly found items during archeological excavations of historic Hudson Bay Company trading posts are beads. Excavations at York Factory, one of the HBC’s oldest and most important ports, collected 28,598 individual beads, while another excavation at Fort Vancouver found well over 100,000.

While the HBC is well known to be intertwined with Canadian history, other companies such as the Russian American Company also conducted business in North American and were involved in trade with First Nations. This “Russian Blue” string of beads was the company’s colour of choice when trading with Indigenous people, and was among the first glass decorations acquired by coastal people in the late 1700s.
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“Russian Blue” beads are characterized by their solid-blue colour and a faceted disk shape which is not truly round but has multiple sides and edges. Despite their name, the majority of these type of beads were actually manufactured in Venice, Italy.


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info@powellrivermuseum.ca
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​Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of material on this website. Dates and times are subject to change. 
  • Exhibits
    • Current Exhibits
    • Forestry Building
    • Virtual Exhibits >
      • Riveting Women
      • Symphonies of the Sunshine Coast
      • Capturing Mountains
      • Story of Cedar
      • Powell River Firsts
      • Rod LeMay Collection
  • Collections
    • Objects
    • Archives >
      • Research Requests
      • Indexes & Finding Aids
      • Archival Descriptions
      • Powell River Digester
      • Phone Books & Directories
      • Good Citizen
      • Record of Military Service
    • Local History Books
  • Programs
    • Public Programs >
      • Summer Camps
      • Museum In the Park
      • Plein Air Painting
      • Lasqueti Island Talk
      • ʔayʔaǰuθəm Workshop
      • Speaker Series
    • School Programs >
      • Educator's Survey
    • Online Programs >
      • Portal To the Past
      • The Coast Memoirs
      • A Taste of Powell River's History
      • The Crafty Corner
      • Dive Into the Archives
    • Historical Tours
    • Memoirs
  • Learn
    • Indigenous History
    • Place Names
    • Forestry History
    • Community History
    • Blast from the Past
    • Heritage Stops
    • Blog
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • Careers
  • About
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Name Change
    • Our Mandate
    • News & Reports
    • Staff & Board
    • Contact Us