(soft music) - The Dakota people, the Sissitunwan, the Wahpetunwan, the Wahpekute and the Bdewakantunwan.

We were really woodland people.

For the most part, this was our homeland, and our homeland was very bountiful and abundant.

- We would make our dresses out of hides, based on where we lived would dictate what kind of animals we would wear.

So deer, elk, buffalo would all be hides used based on where you were from and what was available to you.

- Our uncis and tuis, they tanned hides until they became soft.

And the first dresses everything was made with quilt work before bead work was introduced to us.

- Everything was influenced by the environment, the designs that were used.

The shell and the dentalium shows the vastness of our travel and our trade.

- [Marcy] It was like the more shells they had on a dress meant she was rich in her culture and her beliefs in her spirituality.

And she was highly respected.

- [Gabrielle] And then there's been adaptations once Europeans came and brought other materials.

- [Leah] So we utilized whatever was available to us and made it beautiful, made it our own.

The Dakota word for dress is Saksanica.

(gentle music) (air whooshing) - As Dakota, those four eastern bands, our territory was vast.

It represented what we now know as Minnesota which we would say Mini Sota, where the water reflects the sky.

And the way in which we hunted, fished, and adorned ourselves, the women tanning the hide in the traditional manner, scraping that hide, whether a deer hide or a buffalo hide, it takes a lot of effort, a lot of energy to be able to do that, to prepare a hide.

- We utilized a lot of four-legged animals and we would just use every part of that.

The hides especially were important because they not only were used for shelters for our TP covers, but they were also used for clothing.

So a lot of what we used came from the bigger four-legged animals, elk, deer, buffalo.

- They have scraping tools and they take the fur off the animal, putting it on a frame and making sure that it's even and stretched.

And so it's a long process, soaking it, and working it to make it soft and pliable.

And then the last process, like if you wanna make it kind of water resilient is to smoke the hide.

- [Pejuta] Well, our hide dresses were typically composed of two hides or three hides.

Two hides are probably a little bit more common.

And so they would take two hides and they would put them together and they would run that seam across on the shoulders.

They would be open on the bottom part and then they would run that seam there.

(gentle music) - Before seed beads, we would use quilts, paints, elk teeth, shells on our dresses.

We would adorn them that way because that's a connection for us to our ancestors and to our roots as Dakota women.

(gentle music) - That ancient relationship with the earth that Dakota people had, so they lived with it and took care of it.

So those were the inspirations, whether it's breezy or in a storm, it can be quite formidable.

They paid attention to that as an aesthetic element.

And so it can be fringes at the end of a woman's dress, everything was influenced by the environment, the designs that were used, the style of dance.

- The women traditionally used to dance in a circle behind the men.

They weren't really inside the circle, were there to pray, honor, and encourage their men, and celebrate the good deeds of our warrior and chiefs, bringing back food to our people and protecting us.

- So when we dance traditional, our feet never leave the earth.

We stay connected and it's like that umbilical cord that we have that we're connected to this earth.

(singing in foreign language) She gives us energy, she gives us that life.

And in that way, we're able to help our men.

We're able to hold that space for them in a good way, with love.

- As Dakota people, the man is a reflection of the woman, and the woman is a reflection of her man.

And so when we wear elk teeth, that is a sign of how our husband provides for us, protects us.

- Elk teeth 'cause there's only two eye teeth.

So that would show for like a young girl or a woman that the males in her family were good providers 'cause she could have the wealth of all these elk teeth.

(gentle music) - I think there were several transitions in our history of our wild game coming not as abundant whether it be the buffalo, being almost decimated to the over hunting of our big woods, what was made available by traders, whether it is the trade cloth or the ribbons that were introduced.

- During that trade period, there was already access to seashells, the conch shells and the abalone and dentalium, you could tell tribal people traded.

The ocean is far from the plains so you knew there were trade routes and items were traded among different tribal groups.

(soft music) - When beads came through trade, that sort of ushered in a whole new era for us and what we did was we took something wasichu and we made it our own, and we became master beaders.

(gentle music) - The earlier beads were quite large.

The seed beads, they come from Czecho-Slovakia.

The smaller beads allows you to do more intricate designs.

(gentle music continues) Flandreau Santee, because they lived both on the Prairie and the then the Woodland Prairie, their work became distinctive for using kind of the Woodland elements of the environment that they were in.

- [Gabrielle] I think there was always this kind of misunderstanding that only Anishinaabe people did this beautiful floral work but really our people did beautiful floral work as well.

(gentle music) - So the designs that we wear are a representation of our story.

There would be a story of our family, if we're married or not, if we have children, where we come from, what a band we're from, what society we're from, all those things would be kind of represented through these designs.

Similar to what we had had prior too, it would be the budded flowers, budded medicine plants, budded leaves, what's to be found around us in Woodland areas.

- And then those on the Prairie, those artistic elements evolved to be more geometric shapes.

Like there's a backbone design like women are the backbone of the people.

There's the turtle design, that a woman's home should be as hard as any turtle shell, which would be harder than any man's shield.

So there's these philosophies teaching women about what their role is and why they're important.

And each individual artist has the freedom to portray them the way they want in their artwork.

- And then so from there, it allowed them to kind of tell broader stories and it allowed to infuse their work with a lot of intention.

We believe in balance and we believe in symmetry and we believe in maintaining that balance, personally as Dakota people, as Lakota people to walk in balance with this earth and walk in balance within ourselves.

So even if it's something like that kapemni symbol where it's that triangle on top and on bottom and it's representing what's above is also what's happening down below.

And so that's that balance, and we don't ever want to be out of balance that those sea beads really allowed us to put those intentional prayers, most intentional thoughts into existence.

- Lakota style bead work is geometric.

Usually through visions, they have a vision of how to bead a dress and it take hours using just the all and sinew.

And usually our Lakota colors would be white, blue, mainly blue, representing people.

And I try not to do the same design twice.

I try to think of different designs, start getting creative and trying different vibrant colors to represent our part of the country, Lakota country.

- [Pejuta] Post colonial system is what confined us into reservation boundaries.

And it wasn't just the physical boundaries of a reservation but the boundaries in our minds that were a part of the indoctrination that also took place.

(instrumental music) - [Gabrielle] A lot of those early reservation policies told us that we couldn't leave the reservation.

We couldn't leave those boundaries.

And if we left those boundaries, we would be arrested.

So we had to make a transition, we had to adapt.

With the introduction of Western materials also came woven textiles, and broad-cloth cottons.

And since we are resilient, adaptable people, we took those, that construction of that dress, that T-shaped dress, and we applied it to those woven textiles because we had to adapt.

(gentle music) - [Gabrielle] Reservation times where people didn't travel long distances for their economic system, like hunting buffalo or wild game.

They were pretty much confined to an area.

And so they had time to do elaborate artwork.

People were very artistic and took advantage of what was available in their environment.

So that's where the cloth dresses came, and some of them like still have the dress, like mine does, to simulate the hide on the dresses where the legs would be.

And some people even put designs there that simulate the of deer hoofs.

- [Pejuta] And so those gussets on our cloth dresses is really just transferring that construction idea of what the original dress looked like and translating it into a textile version of that.

So those gussets along that side, are really just emulating recreating that original shape that comes from the true hide dress.

(gentle music) - They started using sequins and shelves because the material was pretty homely.

They wanted to address it out 'cause we started losing our natural resources of being able old to tan hide.

So we had to dress the people.

It would take them years to collect all of those.

- And we made it beautiful.

Even the salvaged edge that you see on trade cloth, we used that within our dresses and we made it almost like a trim.

And then we added onto that different adornments, bead work and like brass sequins and what was available to us.

- But because of the disruption from colonization and non-indigenous settlers coming to this country, our education structure was disrupted.

So some of that knowledge has been corrupted because of what has happened to the people.

- Over time, our people survived and thrived in spite of all of these things and kept their creativity and even kept our knowledge documented by the way in which they chose to adorn their clothing or their regalia.

Because oftentimes when that kind of knowledge was being suppressed, very intentionally, very systematically by mission schools, boarding schools, Indian agents, government agents, that knowledge went underground, not only in here or in here, but also in the quilt work and the floral work and the medicines that were being documented, and later in bead work.

And so some of that knowledge was able to be retained because of that way of documenting.

So it was almost like the stealth way of holding onto something.

So maybe the agent thought, oh they're just making some pretty flowers, but it really was a way to hold onto something, knowledge.

(gentle music) I just love that material.

- [Pejuta] To make these items, you are expressing pride, pride in who you are and pride in who you come from.

So to put all that much work into it, like you're just investing a whole lot in yourself and that's a lot of self love.

- It probably took me a lifetime of collecting everything and putting it together.

And we all work on our own artwork and learn to bead and learn to sew and learn to do leather work.

And some things were gifted to me and some things I gifted to other people.

And so it really takes a long time to have an outfit and it's cherished and really taken care of because it might be something my grandmother gave me or somebody in my family and it has a special gifted meaning to it.

- I wear a conch belt and a knife case and pouch and breast plate and my leggings and moccasins and of course shawls, my fan, and purse, and choker, feather.

A lot of things that were made for me are given to me, my belt and breast plate, things like that, things I don't like to make, or I'm not that good at making.

- So all of the women, we wear breast plates.

And part of these is for protection that help us to be protected because our heart can be open.

We don't wanna cover it like we're going to war.

We want it to be open, but we also wanna stay protected.

Then we have our knives.

Then we have a small medicine pouch that we keep our tools in.

And anytime you have a feather, usually in your left side, that's connected to your heart, the plume.

And then we have our fans and I have white tail feathers cuz I'm in the winter of my life.

So we have different seasons of our life.

(gentle music) - What we're are bringing back today is that floral work, the Dakota floral, we see more of that now.

And I see that coming back more and more instead of just the geometric patterns that often adorned our regalia.

We see more of that Dakota floral.

And we see the quilt work coming back beautiful porcupine quilt work that's coming back.

It all speaks to a people and a tradition.

But I think it also reflects who that person is too.

Because when you look at something, it speaks to you.

If you make something, you are speaking, that's creator speaking through you whatever your creativity is, you're making something, how they use their color, where they place things, what styles they're using, it's all of that.

That's all part of the artistry.

- Whenever we make something for someone, all of our love and our goodness goes into that.

And the time that goes into that and the patience that goes into that, all while that person is beading that, all that love and that goodness actually goes into that material piece.

And then when that's given and that's worn by the person it's made for, that person will carry that love and that goodness with them because all of that went into it when they were making it.

So it's really good to see when people wear those, especially like young women wear those that you just know the love that went into that and what they carry when they get to wear that.

- My mother was a very good seamstress and I would watch her.

And she's passed on, and now I'm learning how to do some things on my own.

I think sewing and being able to make your own clothing, make your own dresses, I think that's such a gift.

And I think that's how our parents, our mothers, our grandmothers showed us that they loved us.

Their love of went into what they made for us.

And now I'm able to show my love for my daughter, my granddaughter, my grandchildren, all of them, by what I make.

And as I think about Dakota artists or any native artists, any indigenous artists, depending on where they are, the materials that are being used, like the shell, for example, if I want to leave something behind for my grandchildren, it is not just the art form itself, it is also about the earth that we live on and the water that we drink.

In order to pass on all of these beautiful things, these traditions, and especially those traditions that require us to draw from the earth or from the water in some way means we also need to be good stewards of the earth and the water.

(wind blowing) - Music, songs and dancing is such a big part of our lives.

So wacipi means "they dance" in Lakota, Dakota, Nakota.

But in these current times, we use it to describe powwow and those are just social gatherings.

It's a time for socializing and for meeting back up with your friends and your family and for enjoyment - There has been terms developed over time to explain what our dance is in modern day.

One way is to say, we are wachi nagi.

It's talking about how we dance in place.

When I dance, when I'm out there dancing, I utilize is that time to help other people.

Because I think that someone could be watching that, maybe used to dance and not as able anymore or needs help in watching you dance, gives them that feeling, that goodness, that feeling.

- If you see the women in the powwow arena who are traditional dancers, you see them on the outside.

Sometimes we go to the center, but we're holding that space in that circular way for our relatives, for our people, for everything to bring that life.

And if you think about anything that we do in our culture, in our Dakota way, especially the women are always the ones that are making things happen, and they make things move.

When the women are there, we feel safe.

And that's the understanding of a long time that we have the connection to our first mother, which is mother earth.

- When we come in grand entry, you'll notice that we all will circle up everybody else.

And we'll be all around the edge.

That has a meaning, and we have a purpose for doing that.

The strength as Dakota women, and goodness and a prayer is a good thought for someone else, wanting good things for people.

And so when we come in that way and we circle everybody up, that's what that means that we're giving that goodness, like holding everyone in our strength.

(bell jingling) - For me too, is just like, I just love it, watching or just dance or my children, seeing them out there and enjoying themselves dancing, feeling that sense of pride and accomplishment.

We do it all together as a family, that togetherness, the beauty of the dances, being around the drum.

And soon as I hear the drum, I'm like, "Oh, man, that's a beautiful song."

And it just puts me in a good place.

Cuz once we're in that circle, we gotta leave everything that's bothering us behind us outside of that circle.

Being in that circle to pray and dance together, it brings me a lot of joy.

(crowd singing) - If we think about all of the regalia, not just traditional, but all of the styles of dance that we have, whether it's traditional, fancy, chicken, jingle dress, all of those, you see everything, every color, bright, shiny.

It's probably some of the most beautiful art forms that we have on this.

If you look out in the powwow arena, it's beautiful.

I mean, there's nothing more powerful than to see everyone's creativity, but that creativity is what makes it different maybe in some ways than art forms because it's connected to the spirit world, which is everything for us.

(gentle music) - [Gabrielle] The origins always have a very beautiful story to them, around how we can live, how we can walk.

But if we think about like these times of adapting material, our people have always been very adaptive, and that's why we're still here.

That's how we've survived, that's how we've thrived, is because we have been so adaptive, drawing upon the strengths of what we know and what was made available to us and accessible to us, and we use that.

And so those are some of the things I think about when I think about women's dress over time.

(gentle instrumental music) - [Pejuta] The intimate connection that Dakota people have with the landscape, it's not just a resource to provide an economic means, there's a spiritual tie.

There's the aesthetic or artistic tie.

And there's also the love of place because our ancestors have lived so closely and intimately with it for a thousand years and these artistic inspirations have come from the landscape itself, and because all of those elements have to do with the love of place.

And I think that's reflected in our artistic traditions.

(bright piano music)