Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 14 Lakota Questions: |
Dress
A Lakota woman sewed and embroidered this dress, probably made of deerskin. Women made dresses like this one to wear for dancing at pow wows. Because the dress was made for special occasions, it is called a "best dress." When a woman danced in this dress, the beaded yoke sparkled in the sunlight, the fringe swung back and forth, and the bells jingled.
The ABSTRACT beaded
design on the yoke of this dress has spiritual power and
significance for the Lakota. It displays a traditional
turtle-by-the-shore-of-the-lake design. At the lower center
of the yoke, resting directly over the wearer's heart, is a
multicolored U- shaped design representing the sacred
turtle. The narrow white strip across the width of the yoke
is the lakeshore. The blue-and-gold designs in the white
strip represent the morning star, and the checkered designs
suggest mountains or hills. The broad blue area represents
the sky's reflection in the lake, the home of the sacred
turtle. The SYMMETRICAL
designs in the upper part may refer to spiritual creatures
that live in the sky and lake. Within the blue strip around
the turtle, crosses signify the four sacred directions.
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