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Question about Native American Clothing

Misty8723

Misty8723

Senior Registered
I have been thinking more and more about that guided meditation I did that brought up images of a Native American life. It feels more and more real to me, and I've been searing to find a dress like I was wearing in the memory, and can't come up with anything. So, I thought I would ask on here, as you all are so knowledgeable.

In the memory, I don't know what age, but I would guess a young woman. I was wearing a short (below the knee), plain deerskin dress. Since there were tipis, I guess that would make it one of the nomadic tribes, but it seems every dress I see is the long ones, and definitely more colorful than what I was wearing.

Does anyone have any ideas which of the tribes might have worn a dress like that?
 
I think that could be from any number of plains tribes. When you were searching the internet they were probably showing dresses that someone had purchased because it was ornamental or they were showing some of the dresses worn by pow wow dancers (I'm guessing here so maybe I'm wrong).


Everyday clothing wasn't quite so fancy especially if you weren't from one of the more well-to-do family's <--there was some differences in wealth among tribal members. A plain, no frills dress may just indicate you weren't married to the best hunter in the group, lol, sorry.
 
A lot of what I found was verbal, not pictures, and they all seem to say the women wore long dresses. I have seen a couple that look similar, but had ornamentation, or at least coloration, but maybe I just didn't see all the details. It all went by pretty quickly.
 
When I think about the dresses, Misty, the length is kind of mid-calf. Since the bottoms were fringed, and uneven, it's hard to determine how long they were. Was your dress missing the fringe?
 
It does sound like plains NA tribe. My own was in the SE and the clothing I saw was tunic length top, with leggings and the footware sort of blending together. Deerskin, I think.
 
With tipis, that would be plains indians. If you traveled with buffalo and the seasons, you would have been further west. Edges of leather were often left the natural edge of the hide. Not always neat fringe, not always cut straight either. I would say mid calf was the most common length.
 
just a thought?


if you were a young woman..what are the chances you had on a dress that still fit-but that you were outgrowing?


Growth spurts are what happens at puberty, and maybe you hadn't gotten a new skin to make a longer dress yet!!


It doesn't mean you *should* have had a traditional longer dress. It just means that-at that point in time, you didn't, yet.


Maybe what you saw was just a snippet of something more.


little sister
 
Wow, littlesister! That was a good observation, and none of us thought of it. What you suggest sounds very possible.
 
That's definitely a very interesting idea that I hadn't thought of. It felt as if I were young, but I couldn't say how young.
 
Misty, very interesting. This sounds very much like the Plains Buffalo Hunting Tribes that you saw as others have said. Now usually the Plains Indian women dresses were as you saw with coming down to somewhere below the knee. Then they would sometimes wear leggings then on the lower legs. And the usually day to day wear was usually more plain with them using the more fancy wear for special occasions. It was only in white society at the time where they has the dresses extending to the the shoes.


Now with the image of yourself as a trapper and as a Indian woman, then maybe I knew you in another life for it kinda parallels somewhat my experience. Hope this helps.
 
That would be very cool if we knew each other in another life!


Thank you for clarifying the dress - I searched the internet for a long time and couldn't come up with anything that was similar. I don't think I had on leggings though. Maybe they wore those in colder seasons.
 
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