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8. Hair Pendants or "Sagaponwan"

Meskwaki women traditionally wore their hair in one long thick braid, bound in the back with a hair wrapper. Two long beaded pendants hung from the wrapper to the ankles. They were among her most important and sacred belongings. Pendant weaving was accompanied by special rituals and prayers for the woman's health, happiness and long life.

Pendants came in two types. The simpler kind had a center woven band with three long narrower bands attached at each end. The bead design is usually a simple repeating pattern. The second, more complex form, such as this, subdivide with the center band becoming two, then four, and then eight bands. The complex beaded patterns change with each subdivision.

10. hair wrapper	9. sash - next

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