Warren Steven Scott Octopus Bags Earrings

A chandelier earring that pays homage to “octopus bags,” also known as “fire bags.”

Originally used to carry flint, tobacco, and/or ammunition, these “bags of many legs” were made by Métis people across the Northern Plains, the Yukon, and along the Columbia River in the mid-1800s. It is thought that the name “octopus bag” was given by the Tlingit Nation when the bags were introduced to the Northwest Coast by Métis traders.

The bags have widespread origins, with Anishinaabe, Cree, and Métis women of Manitoba’s Red River Valley creating early versions of the modern octopus bag as far back as the 1820s.

Each earring features three dangling appendages that add movement and a delicate nod to the many-legged form of the original bags.