Julie - Soldiers and traders involved in the eighteenth century fur
trade collected Native American "curiosities."  The collection of Arent
Schuyler DePeyster (commanding officer of Michilimackinac 1774-1779)
included effigy pipes, a wampum belt, a white beaver pelt, quillwork
garters and snowshoes.  It is now housed at the Merseyside County Museum
in Liverpool.  There is a portrait of Sir John Caldwell wearing Native
American garb he had collected.  I can probably find a few more
references to this sort of thing if they are of interest.

A completely different example can be found in Little House in the
Prairie (the book NOT the television show), where Laura Ingalls
Wilder describes collecting beads from a recently abandoned Indian camp.
 She and her sister strung them to make a necklace for their baby
sister.

Lynn

Lynn Evans
Mackinac State Historic Parks
[log in to unmask]