Plains Dag Knife with Beaded Beaver Tail Scabbard By NA-Too-Aki

ca. 2013

Knife - .4375" H x 12.75" L x 2.75" W Sheath - 11.75" L x 3.5" W 18" L Total Length

Hand Crafted from Wood and a Steel Blade with a Leather Sheath with Glass Seed Beads in Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and White Colors in a Geometric Design Signed NA-Too-Aki

In Very Good Condition

Plains Dag Knife with Beaded Beaver Tail Scabbard By NA-Too-Aki is a classic piece of Native American craftsmanship from the Plains tribes (such as Blackfoot, Sioux, or other Northern Plains groups), combining a dagger (also called a "dag" or trade knife) with an elaborately beaded scabbard (sheath).

The beaver tail name comes from the distinctive wide, flat, diamond-shaped blade design, reminiscent of a beaver's tail. These knives originated as European trade items (often from Sheffield, England, or Hudson's Bay Company during the fur trade era, roughly 1800s), popular among mountain men, traders, and Native Americans for utility, hunting, and sometimes defense or warfare. Native artisans would often haft (handle) them with materials like horn, wood, or bone and create custom sheaths.

The scabbard is typically made from smoked hide or leather (sometimes backed with rawhide/parfleche), richly decorated with intricate beadwork using glass beads (often French or Venetian) in geometric patterns — triangles, crosses, stripes, or floral motifs common in Plains styles. These sheaths were both functional (to securely hold the knife, often covering much of the handle) and artistic, serving as symbols of skill, status, and tribal identity. Beadwork became especially prominent after the mid-19th century with increased access to trade beads.