"A 'Hair Pipe' is a term for a wide slim bead, more than 1.5 inches wide, which were popular with American Indians, particularly from the Great Plains and Northwest Plateau. Hair pipe beads were extremely popular from 1880–1910 and are still very common in powwow regalia today. These beads are used in chokers, breast plates, earrings, and necklaces worn by women and men."
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_pipe
I used a kit to build a breastplate for Order of the Arrow ceremonies. It's not entirely finished, but it's close.
|I used an awl to punch my holes.|
|I bought my own purple beads. The kit came with red and blue beads.|
|The holes were pre-marked. I just had to do the awling (is that a word?).|
|Mostly done. Stay tuned for more (some day).|