Sky-blue chief's beads are historic light-blue glass trade beads that Native American tribes, especially Plains and Northwest groups, highly valued during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

History and Meaning

Name: North American native peoples historically called them "ti-a, co-mo-shack," which translates to sky-blue beads.

Value: Plains Indians considered the sky-blue color the most desirable of all trade beads, often reserving them for chiefs or important ceremonial regalia.

Origin: Traders originally brought these drawn or wound glass beads—Padre bead—from Murano, Italy via global trade routes.

Trade Era: Fur-trading Hudson's Bay Company widely distributed them across North America.