During the Reservation Era, roughly from the 1870s to the 1920s, Native Americans were required to move onto allotments of land. Rebecca West, the curator of the Plains Indian Museum, said it was a time when the United States government followed a policy of extermination and assimilation. “With that came drastic changes in lifestyle, losses […]
Articles of clothing created by Native artists during the reservation era (circa 1870 – 1930s) were wearable, biographical garments emblematic of Native pride during a time when personal expressions were repressed. Dresses, especially heavily-beaded examples made for ceremonies and special occasions, are manifestations of pride and cultural identity. A Lakota dress with a fully-beaded yoke speaks much about […]