I read the rules, and it seems this kind of post is allowed, all apologies if I am reading that wrong. Anyway...
Found in Central New York, maybe a 1/4 mile from the shore of Oneida Lake (maybe less) by a friend digging in his backyard garden. Could this be a Native American bead? Years before, when building the house, same friend found what was very obviously a well worn pestle (he even went to the local museum to verify).
Did you add the red string? If you didn't that would immediately rule it out as the string wouldn't have survived that long.
Well it certainly looks like a glass, wire (mandrel) wound, trade bead. It has the patina you would expect to see, and it is similar to those documented in this article describing beads from Fort Niagra in New York. Having a pestle fragment and this bead would suggest that your friend's garden is likely an archaeological site.