Before sustained European contact, First Nations of the Eastern Woodlands made sashes by finger weaving and hand plaiting inner bark and other plant fibres, using them to secure clothing or bind and carry possessions. With the arrival of imported wool yarns, these materials were quickly adopted, opening the way to stronger colour, denser pattern and increasingly elaborate surface effects.

Sash weaving was practised across many parts of Canada and became especially closely associated with Métis communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where the sash remains an important cultural emblem. French Canadian makers also developed a strong tradition of finger woven sashes.

This handsome example is especially rich in finish. Its fringes have been carefully twisted into narrow braids, giving the ends a dense, corded texture that plays against the broader patterned body of the sash.

References: See T.J. Brasser, Bo-jou, Neejee!, pl. 116. For a Lorette Huron ceinture perlée with beadwork, see Ruth B. Phillips, Patterns of Power: The Jasper Grant Collection and Great Lakes Indian Art of the Early Nineteenth Century (Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984), cat. 59, p. 58.