Traditional Dress

 

The people of some North American tribes maintain their distinct dressing styles well into the 1900's. This photo shows such an example, taken by a studio photographer in Calgary around 1910. It shows Jonas Dixon, a young Stoney man, with his wife. Both are dressed in their finest clothing for this portrait session. She has on a woolen dress, a white canvas apron, a fringed and plaid Scottish shawl, and a flowered scarf. He wears fully beaded moccasins, a fringed pair of smoked buckskin leggings, a long breechcloth decorated with many colors of ribbons, a decorated shirt and cloth vest, and a dance roach of porcupine and deer hair on his head. The bead bandolier bag over his shoulder is decorated with weasels and other animal skins that represented the sacred powers of his dreams, which came from his outdoor life. Around his neck is a conch shell choker with a necklace of deerhorn tips, made in imitation of grizzly claws. When Jonas Dixon gave me this photo of himself in 1975, he had on a pair of faded jeans, work boots, and a flannel shirt. He said it was easy in his young days to go around dressed traditionally, because many of his Stoney People still did, partly because there weren't a lot of strangers in their country then.

Reprinted from Traditional Dress by Adolf Hungrywolf

Introduction

The Native American People, back in the Old Days, dressed according to tribal traditional and personal desire. Like everything else in their lives, appearance was dictated foremost by Visions and Dreams. Sometimes a totally new article or method came about this way – often with spiritual meaning that was respected and not copied by others. More often, however, the Visions of personal appearance were based on pleasing articles and methods that the individual had seen previously on another tribe member, on a member of another tribe, or even on a person from some other culture. For instance, it is believed that many intricate geometric beadwork designs were inspired by similar designs on Oriental rugs that were brought into the frontier country by white settlers. Again, the famed "war bonnet" was used originally by the Sioux tribe – and a few neighbors – to distinguish warriors who had accomplished enough brave deeds that their representative eagle feathers could be made up into a headdress. The style and meaning of the bonnet was adopted by numerous tribes during the latter part of the 19th century. By the beginning of the present century, no Native dress was considered complete without a war bonnet. So virtually every tribe adopted the style, and the traditional bonnet all but lost its meaning.

The Native People in the Old Days certainly placed as much pride in their personal appearance as any group of people ever have. Their dress consisted of handmade clothing, necklaces of natural materials or wonderful, prized beads, little bunches of feathers and furs worn here and there, hats made of skins – each thing with a story behind it that was sure to recall some prior happy moments at discouraging times.

The following presentation is meant to inspire your thoughts about personal appearance. It does not give step-by-by instructions for weekend diversion. Rather, it gathers together some old styles and some old methods, with the hope that you will be tempted to gather the materials at your disposal and make some of the items to suit your own personal thoughts and way of life.

 

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