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Hi,
Could someone please tell me the proper clothes that the women wore? I would like to dress up to dance in Saponi. The other tribes have Cherokee tear dresses, or ribbon work on their regalia.
I was just wondering if there are any pictures where you could look, or if the tribe dresses like that today. I dont know if its all leather or all calico.
I would like to work on that this winter.
Is there maybe a book that would be able to tell me about things like that, and maybe a web site?
Thanks! 🙂
You can search regalia on the forum and see what each of us wears and how we describe it. There is no one “type” of regalia…it depends on each individual. And there are pictures/drawings on here after which people have patterned their regalia. I wish it was that easy to just find a book and make a dress, alas, it’s not.
I have two outfits that I rotate. And am making a third/adjustment to second this winter. Regalia progresses. I will be aiming my initial regalia more towards the veterans this coming year, adding more red,white, and blue, along with patches/pins of the various branches of the military to honor those (in my family) presently serving and those past.
Aho
Becky
I have a friend who is willing to sale me her buffalo hide dress. She says though its hotter than deer hide. I am afriad to get deer hide and cut it because, knowing me, I will make a big mistake. And I do not know how to cut hide. But I am always willing to learn.
I have a friend who would like to sale me her buffalo hide dress. She wants to make a deer hide dress. She said buffalo is much heavey and hotter to wear than deer hide.
Can anyone give me feed back on the buffalo hide being hotter?
Buffalo hide is much thicker. I know in making drums, one I made of deer rawhide stretched out and lost its voice right away, though buffalo rawhide will be used to make drums that can withstand the humidity of a sweat lodge.
In general, I’ve found that leather dresses are not as hot as you’d think since they absorb sweat and breathe. My regalia is a medium weight leather and I can wear it into the mid 80’s.
The one thing about deerhide, if you make a mistake, it can be mended…just as our ancestors did when things got torn or ripped. I know several folks who have had to mend their dresses and vests. And deer hide has its own idiosyncrasies….with buckshot holes, which adds to the character. Can’t answer to the buffalo hide issue, guess a lot depends on the weather where you are located, and how often you wear it and how comfortable it is on you. That’s the main thing, like Linda said, regalia should be comfortable and wearable all day. That’s why buckskin is fringed, not for decoration, but to wick the sweat away and also be used to repair things. Good luck with your regalia….
Aho
Becky
My regalia is made from buffalo hide and it is heavy. I don’t find it to be extremely hot – wore it all summer even when the temps hit in upper 80’s and into 90’s.
Smoke & Prayers,
Deborah
The skin needs to breathe might sound funny . Buffalo hide is hot and can be very heavy Deer skin on the other hand if you look at it it is in the shape of a top the neck is cut out and where the legs were are where the arms would go all you have to do is lay them together and sew them together should be very little cutting involved
I blieve I will go with deer hide. It gets so humid here. Any site that has deer hide at not so expensive price?
What would I do for a pattern?
Braintan buckskin is currently selling for $18 to $20 per square foot. You will need 20 to 25 ft for a dress. Commercial leather is a bit cheaper. I ask $20/ ft for what I tan. You may want to consider cloth for your first dress.
check here for deer skin http://www.black-bear-haversack.com/index.php/cPath/275
I don’t think that it would be cost effective but I have several yearling buffalo calves to be processed yet this year. The fur this time of year is very pretty! The meat processor charges to let me have them back its usually 30-50 dollars. Salting them would be necessary to get the fluids out for a few days. Packing and shipping. I just hate to see them go and not benefit someone for traditional use.
Raindance, the only thing I could find on that site is deerskin lacing, not buckskin, especially enough to make a dress.
Kamama, for your first regalia consider either cloth or commercial leather..and yes, leather is expensive considering the work that goes into making it. And finding patterns is not hard, just have to remember to keep it simple.
Regalia can get pretty expensive considering the materials and work involved making it…most stuff is handmade. Beadwork, unless you do your own, is a labor intensive thing and is quite expensive if it’s of any size. That’s why I started out with cloth, a skirt that had a drawstring casing, and used a white linen shirt…it was materials I had that I adapted to my needs. Ken bought commercially tanned buckskin for his leggings and made them himself after talking with elders about the process.
http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=545-100-000
This is a site that many NA dancers use to order materials. Hope this helps.
Aho
Becky
I picked up some leather for my dad when I was up in Northern Minnesota…Larry Runningen has a lot of furs and leather…Moose, Deer etc…here is his address and phone…3197 E Highway 61, Grand Marais, MN, 55604-2101. Phone: (218) 736-4208
There is also cloth available that looks much like leather. Would make a great “Practice dress” to decide on your pattern and you could dance in it while you work on a more permanent ensemble. I know Linda dances in skins or cloth depending on weather and mood. I have found that lashing the pieces together allows you to modify the shape easier as you see what feels right. You can get ideas from any of the western dress styles for the basic design ideas. Keep in mind that traditional saponi summer dress for the women would be simply a skin apron front and back. Afraid that might get you arrested or thrown out of the circle 😉 but the point is that the function and beauty that flows from the shape of the 2 eastern whitetail deer skins, One for front and one for back (with a third skin for fringed sleeves, if you desire), combined with your creativity and genes will be “you”
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