Native American Bead Work is known for its beauty. A key concept that will be used in this lesson is Mathematics. This design type is based on four- fold symmetry and reflection symmetry. I was shown four different types of Native American designs and they are all very similar to geometric images. They all have some sort of symmetry and shapes on them. The images are shown below.

Reflection symmetry is when the right half of something is the mirror image to the left half. It  also could be when the top half of something is the mirror image of the bottom half. Common base 4 counting that is often used in Native American culture is when tee pee's are being built. Four fold symmetry was also used in Navajo sand paintings. The paintings were used in healing ceremonies. They used reflection symmetry to show paired forces. Eskimo's say it's important to make sure both sides of their Parka's look the same. They developed a coordinate system to help measure vertical and horizontal distance. Four fold symmetry is incorporated in the design of the Parka. The fifth example of four fold symmetry is the bead loom. The bead loom holds beads in rows and columns. The Native American bead work was created before the Europeans arrived. One way the bead work was used was to create a wampum belt that recorded historic events. It also could be used for counting.