Native American Dressmaking: A Cultural Education

Since before the first pilgrim set foot on American soil Native American's have been surviving and providing for themselves. Men took care of the hunting for food and gathering of materials to build tepees, weapons, or other needed objects, while Native American women maintained the family by preparing meals and making clothing. In an exhibit entitled "Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dress," located in the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, co-curators Colleen Cutchall and Emily Her Many Horses examine Native American clothing design, more specifically, dressmaking in the nineteenth century and today. Even though clothes making among Native American women was common practice, Native American dressmaking helped form strong bonds between mother and daughter, and taught a young girl to embrace her own creativity and heritage through skillful designing and decorating.