The magnificent doll is wearing a dress of coarse wool decorated with rows of elk teeth; a knife on the belt, and a cradle with pearl embroidering.

The Plain women were particularly skilled in the preparation of the animal skins for the manufacturing of many domestic objects, dresses and tepee coverings.  A characteristic aspect was established by the emphasis placed on the interrelation between ceremonies, customs, ornaments and songs.

An organismic concept of the world in which each thing was chained to a complex scheme of mythology and ritual.

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Reproduced here are some of the objects gathered by Ethnologist A.L. Kroeber in Oklahoma and Wyoming in 1899 and in 1900.  They are mainly typical artefacts made and used by the Arapahos in the 20^th century.  Very few are produced still today.  The meaning behind the drawings was explained to Kroeber by the original owners of the objects, as well as by those who made them. Before now, they had never been a part of these splendid artefacts.

Indian name of the Arapaho tribe: Kananavich=People of the bison path.

They are one of the tribes of the plain divided dividing north and south whose language is Algonquian with slightly varying dialect inflections which have survived until today

As the name even states, they were specialised in bison hunting that they accomplished with particular techniques, influenced then by the introduction of the use of the horse, which, without a doubt, facilitated this characteristic of theirs.

A nomadic people who, for long periods of time, were closely tied to other tribes: the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and the Black Foot tribes also had the same characteristics.

They surrendered a part of the territory in 1865 to the government of the United States and were forced onto “reservations” which in time were progressively reduced, giving place to the “white man”, introducing debatable re-interpretations of the stipulated treaties.  Now their successors live on “reservations” between Oklahoma and Wyoming.

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An Aleutian painted by Louis Choris (1816-1817).  Wearing a shirt of intestine- with a hood and a hat with a painted visor made of thin, bent wood to give it shape -  sown at the back to achieve a plunging neckline.

The Aleutians occupied the chain of islands that form the bridge between Siberia and Alaska. Devoted to hunting and fishing, their particular kayaks – used even for whale fishing – are famous.

In the second half of the 18^th century, the eastern Aleutians were brutally defeated by the Russians and forced to hunt on their behalf.

Once Alaska was sold to the United States, otter and seal hunting increased.

Fish canning industries and whale fishing stations have been established on the Aleutian Islands since the second half of the 18^th century.

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This feminine leather dress was obtained near the Ute tribe by Powell the explorer in between 1870-1880.

The small cape is decorated with pearls typical of the Ute style: few colours and simple geometric designs.

The Ute women were particularly skilled in embroidery, the style was characterised by definite geometrical designs made of few colours on a light, generally white, background

They initially worked with pony pearls then moved on to a seed-type of pearl using the satin and flat stitches to apply them.

They were commonly decorated with bands applied to the shoulders and sleeves of the men’s shirts, quills on the female dresses, the masculine bootlegs and the tobacco bags.

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Angelica LaMoose, daughter of Joseph LaMoose, Indian explorer of the Flathead Reservation: the photograph was taken in September 1913 by H.T. Cory.  The researched dress of the baby girl – granddaughter of a chief – was made by herself and her mother; it is in the typical plateau style, as the heavy cloak and the heavy cape and the pearl-adorned fringed skirt demonstrate.

Angelica LaMoose belonged to the Flathead tribe.

The Flathead tribe culturally belonged to the plateau region.

They were very influenced by the Plain Indians allocated further East.

Since their dwellings were not mobile, they began to use cone shaped tepees (tents) used for journeys and for hunting.

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During the Historical Period,

the south western Indians decorated

their military style shirts with stripes

around the edges and the necks.

After the deportation,

the Seminole people who stayed in Florida

created a particular type of application,

covering almost the whole shirt with patterns,

as in the example aside.

Following the distribution

of the sewing machine,

the decoration was substituted

by a more sophisticated Patchwork

and the Seminole women created

fabrics with tribe-typical characteristics (extreme left).

Also the kind of shirt reveals the Seminole’s origin.

The two in the picture are loose

military style shirts for men with patchwork,

popular among the south western Indian

men during the Historic Period.

Pictures of open and wide coats,

long to the knees or almost,

used until our century.

Today they are used only in special

occasions and are sold to tourists.

Following the distribution of the sewing machine the Seminole Indians adopted the patchwork, becoming their main characteristic.

Stripes of printed fabric are sewn directly on the garment.

This technique allows to obtain the most surprising games depending on the imagination of the person doing the work.

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The appaloosa is a horse breed from North America.

With its typical spotted coat the appaloosa strikes the imagination.

This horse has been hunting the buffalo together with the native Americans.

Its name comes from the Palouse river which delimited the lands of its first farmers.

Between Indians and horses there is an indissoluble bond.

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A Saainiboin warrior kills Spotted Horse (about 1898).

The cemetery of eagle feathers is an uncommon style:

the feathers are in a back position compared to the front,

covering the whole head.

Spotted Horse belongs to the Indians of the Plain.

The pride in his eyes and his bearing make a spectacular picture of him.

Spotted Horse belongs to the Assinibion Tribe.

That tribe was born in 1640 and lived near the Assiniboin and Saskatchewan river.

Buffalos hunters, they were among the first ones to exchange trading activities with the “whites” through the “barter”.

From them at the beginning of the XIX century they contracted the smallpox and were decimated.

Today it is possible to find reservations in Canada, in the South Dakota or in Montana.

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The dress is made with three leathers

sewn by the Cheyenne

people from the south and could

be dated back to the 1890 about,

it is decorated with wapiti’s teeth

on the yellow hat having also many fringes,

while the skirt has two semi-horizontal lines

of small pearls and a lace on the bottom side,

under which the deer leather has a red colour.

It is worth to notice the little cone-shaped bells.

For a woman’s dress they used three deer’s skins.

Two of them were cut straight to shape the skirt and the third one was bent along the length and sewn around the waist.

From the decorations used it is possible to understand the tribe of origin.

They were decorated with little pearls and animals teeth.

The material was used without wasting anything.

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