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Dentalia shell and glass bead bracelet. Bison hide leather used as spacers and painted in vermillion ochre.

Dentalium Bracelet
ˀex̣séx̣snim wapk̉íilk̉il

Nez Perce
ca. 1830 – 1845  

Interpretive text from Nimiipuu Tribal Committee:
"Bracelet made from dentalium, and was an additional form of decoration that our people employed. Using different types of sea shells and later glass beads, to strip beads around the wrist as a form of decoration was an established practice by Nimiipuu men and women. Decorating oneself with dentalium was often done more explicitely by those who attained 'spiritual' power and were considered wéeyexniin or 'one who posseses a wéeyekin.'"

Shell, brass, glass beads, leather, bison hide, sinew. L 26.6 cm
Nez Perce National Historical Park, NEPE 8762