Women from Northern Plains cultures, like the Blackfeet tribe of Montana, wear necklaces like this one during special events. The distinctive tubular beads, called hair pipes, are made from the leg bones of cows and bison. People call the bead hair pipes because they were originally decorative hair ornaments.

I chose this woman’s necklace because it’s part of the Louis W. Hill Sr. collection—the first collection ever accessioned by The Science Museum of Minnesota. The Hill family were avid collectors of American Indian objects, mostly because of their work with Great Northern Railroads, who promoted American Indian people living in Montana and Glacier National Park as a tourist destination.
- Tilly Laskey, Curator of Ethnology