Trade, Traveling, and Dakota Clothing Influences

Although the clothing differed between men and woman, young and old, the people that made it were the same. The woman were in charge of using beads, bones, shells, and other natural objects to decorate the clothes, but in times of reduced resources the women of the Dakota Sioux found that they weren’t the only ones in need, like the pilgrims. The pilgrims were in need of food, and found that through their advanced machinery they were successfully and efficiently able to make wampum – or strings of beads made from seashells, and therefore they could trade it to the Dakota, in return for food. But yet another idea that was given to the Sioux, by the Spanish in 1550, was horses, because with them they were able to quickly track down buffalo, elk, and many others, for clothing. Horses not only gave the Sioux the ability to get animals faster, but they were one of the few tribes to have horses, and therefore they were able to get as many different animals as they wanted with out the competition of other tribes. People from over seas introduced many new elements that made finding, capturing, and receiving, animals and resources easier for the Dakota, especially the specific members sewing and molding them.
By Erin Hynes

The Best Art Around

Art for Native Americans was not an entity unto itself, but integral part of there activities. American Indian art comes in myriad forms like pottery, jewelry, basketry, weaving, painting, beadwork, sliver work, sculptures, and woodcarving. The Indians that did wood work carved out bowls, paddles, letter openers, rattles, and boxes that found much favor amongst the art collectors of the world. Native /Americans used variety of tools to shape and carve wood. They used things like stone, shells, copper, bone, horn, teeth, axes, knives, scrapers, drills, chisels, hammers, wedges, and sanders. They also made useful things out of wood like houses, boats, sleds, snowshoes, bows and arrows, spears, stripes, hoes, rakes, bed frames, and flutes. The Native Americans also went to trading post to get money for their art and the things that they made. Native Americans did not have a lot of resources but made good use of the things they had.

By James Hodges

Deer Skin, Beads, Leggings...Oh My!!

Clothing for the Native Americans was an important factor for their everyday life, and was a direct result of there hunting lifestyle. The Sioux people wore clothes mostly made from deer, buffalo, and elk. They used the animal’s skin, fur and hide to make shirts, moccasins, leggings, dresses, jackets, and vests. Most of the shirts and dresses would have beautiful beaded artwork on them with many hanging beads at the ends of each. In hot weather, the men of each tribe would wear breech coats, and in the winter, they would wear deerskin shirts, warm moccasins, and thick leggings. The women would wear colorful dresses with detailed beaded artwork. They would also have porcupine quills, feathers, and elk teeth hanging from strands on their dresses and shirts. The children of the tribes usually wore the same types of clothing as their parents, but in the warm weather, some of the children wouldn’t wear anything. The Sioux tribes would use almost every part of each animal that they would hunt because they didn’t like to waste. By using the animal, the Sioux were able to make wonderful clothing that would last for many years.

By: Sarah Broos

Craftsmanship Like No Other

The Sioux Indian tribes were vastly different from any other tribes when it came to beadwork. Long before the Sioux were granted glass beads by traders, they mastered the skill of decorating porcupine quills to customize their clothing and belongings. To diversify the quills, they dyed them in an array of colors such as red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple. Until around the year 1880, when they were traded aniline (oily liquid) dyes, the colors were much darker and less of a variety of shades. The Sioux would bead mostly on a fully white background and avoided using colors that were similar to that background. In addition, blue and green were rarely used on the same article of cloth or fabric. The designs were unique, using mostly geometrical shapes and patterns along with seldom-used figures of horses or birds. Much of these facts prove the fact that the Sioux are a one-of-a-kind tribe.

By Devin Cazin