Since before the first pilgrim set foot on American soil Native American’s have been surviving and providing for themselves. Men took care of the hunting for food and gathering of materials to build tepees, weapons, or other needed objects, while Native American women maintained the family by preparing meals and making clothing. In an exhibit entitled “Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women’s Dress,” located in the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, co-curators Colleen Cutchall and Emily Her Many Horses examine Native American clothing design, more specifically, dressmaking in the nineteenth century and today. Even though clothes making among Native American women was common practice, Native American dressmaking helped form strong bonds between mother and daughter, and taught a young girl to embrace her own creativity and heritage through skillful designing and decorating.
There were three definite styles of dresses designed and worn by Native American women in the nineteenth century, as described in the first section of the exhibit, entitled “Nineteenth Century Style.” These specific new dress designs consisted of the side-fold dress, the two-hide dress, or the three-hide dress; the exact type of dress worn mainly depended on what region a woman’s tribe resided in. The side-fold dress was simple and became outdated by the middle of the 1800s. The two-hide dress however, was a little more complex and served the needs of Native American women more efficiently for agricultural work or horseback riding. The Two-hide dress was widely made and circulated among the tribes in the Great Plains, Great Basin, and Plateau regions of the American continent. The last type of dress popular in women’s Native American culture was the three-hide dress, which did not greatly differ from the two-hide dress. The main difference was a “cape-like top” made from the use of a third hide. The three-hide dress also gave women more space on the yoke to decorate with paints, beads, shells, or other natural materials. The three-hide dress could be found primarily in the southern half of the Great Plains and Great Basin.
As discussed in the second section of the exhibit, entitled “Full Circle of Life,” Native American dress design taught young girls about their history and gave them a feeling of belonging within the tribal community that was unique within the Native American society. Dress design and craftsmanship is stressed at an early age. Before a girl is able to complete her first dress, she will be given many beautiful and artistic dresses by relatives as a way of showing “love and appreciation,” as well as a way to promote the child’s own creativity. According to Dr. Laura Peers, “Decorated clothing said a great deal about kinship, which was very important in Native American societies.” Within this section of the exhibit, there is a black and white photograph of two young Sioux girls wearing extensively beaded dresses made for them by another family member. The girls appear proud to wear the innovatively designed pieces. Female relatives expect each girl within the community to master specific skills in dressmaking such as, sewing, beading, and quillwork on hide and fabric acquired through hunting or trade.
Intertribal trade and trade conducted with European explorers brought many new desirable materials within Native American reach. The section called “Indigenous Innovation” focuses on the new items brought into use among women in their dress design. Bead color and designs on the dresses became tied to tribal affiliation. The trades of fabrics allowed women to expand their artistry from hide dresses to ones of made of cloth. However, even with the use of new materials, Native women tended to maintain a traditional look in the design of the dress with only slight Western influences. Beading and decorating with natural items such as elk teeth, shells or carved items remained common practice. Native women also took advantage of cloth with white edges, also called “saved-list” cloth. They considered the white edge to be a natural design, and unlike European tailors, left the white strip on the edges of the fabric intact. Although traditional designs remained idealized among Native women, a woman’s access and ability to use these new and coveted materials became seen as a gauge of “social respectability for herself and family” (Cutschall).
Native American dress design reflected the changes, struggles and happiness in their everyday life. Dresses for ceremonial purposes or special events in tribal life were often made with emotional significance, remembrance, or honor for a family or tribe member. Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty explains, “My mom has an adopted brother, and when he came back from Vietnam, they beaded his daughter a dress with eagle feathers on it. It was done in honor of him and his war deeds. The red feathers meant that he had gone to war and had fought. It all ties in with the warrior societies of the past and keeping that warrior tradition going” (qtd. in Cutschall). Specialized dresses and headpieces worm by women during dances and ceremonies was a way Native American woman could show her pride and honor for her husband and other male relatives within the tribe.
Today women have little chance to wear and dance in lavishly decorated dresses, as such, the Powwow has become an important way for women to regain their native origins and teach their children about their tribal heritage. Powwow dance competitions allow for women to once again indulge in the unique artistry and creativity experienced by their ancestors while designing new dresses for themselves or family members. Jackie Parsons, of the Blackfeet tribe, notes, “It’s important to preserve the culture. There are three things that maintain a culture- language, religion, and art. You lose those three, and you lose the culture completely. So it’s very important to retain all of them” (qtd. in Cutschall). In a photograph posted in the section entitled, “The Powwow World,” a Comanche mother and daughter perform a traditional dance in cloth dresses adorned in red, blue, yellow, and white beads. Each wear a beaded headdress topped with white and red feathers, and in each of their hands they hold a fan made from beadwork and white and brown feathers. The picture symbolizes the bond shared between mother and daughter, a bond that was also shared between Native American mothers and daughters during the early to mid-nineteenth century.
Native American dressmaking can commonly be overlooked for something as simple as necessity, however, the dress itself and the process of making it signifies strong family bonds, pride in oneself and ones history. The creativity and artistic ability put into every dress offers both the wearer, and the admirer an understanding and appreciation for Native American life and talent. Each dress draws the tribe or family together in dance, offer honor or remembrance to loved ones lost, or show a young girl she is appreciated within the family.
Works Cited
Cutschall, Colleen., and Emil Her Many Horses. Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women’s Dresses.” Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. 2006. 6 February 2008 http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/identity_by_design/IdentityByDesign.html>.
Peers, Laura. To Please the Spirits: Native American Clothing.” Pitt Rivers Museum. 2007. 9 February 2008 http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/native.html>.
