Northern Plains Indian Crafts

To craft detailed patterns, Northern Plains Indians preferred glass beads.

Northern Plains Indians, such as Shoshone, Arapaho, Sioux, Blackfeet, Chippewa, Cheyenne and Crow, tapped natural resources to hone their crafts. They painted buffalo hides, sewed quilts and embellished clothing and other items with porcupine quills and beads made of stone, shells, animal bone and teeth. Buffalo or deer sinew doubled as thread, and dyes taken from plants, berries and lichen reflected the earth's hues in the finished product. Although the Northern Plains tribes shared similar cultures, their crafts exhibited differences in style.

Buffalo Hide Painting

Indians procured hides from the buffalo on which they painted symbolic designs.

In the early 1800s, buffalo roamed the Northern Plains, and for warmth the Indians manufactured the animals' hides into clothing, bedding, robes and tepees. Pictures painted on buffalo hides worn by tribesmen told a story, while women favored skins designed with geometric shapes. Buffalo hides were painted with special symbols to hasten wellness, promote childbearing and to signify specific events. Those belonging to tribal leaders might record a historical moment or depict a brave's heroism.

Quilting

Following the annihilation of the buffalo in the late 19th century, Christian missionary wives taught women of the Northern Plains tribes how to quilt. They sewed geometric shapes onto empty flour sacks, old clothing and cotton fabrics dyed in vivid colors, and these quilts replaced painted buffalo hides as bedding. Composed of small diamond shapes, the morning star image emerged as the primary quilt motif for the Northern Plains Indians. The morning star symbolizes a fresh start to a new day. The Star Quilt honors the dead as well as the return of survivors from war and is featured at weddings, graduations, powwows and other ceremonies.

Quillwork

Lakota Sioux of the Northern Plains fashioned crafts from porcupine quills, an ancient Native American custom. To gather the quills, a Lakota woman approached a porcupine and cautiously tossed a blanket over the animal. When the porcupine raised its quills in defense, they caught onto the blanket which was then scooped up with the quills inside. After dyeing in large pots, the red, mauve, purple and yellow quills were spread out to dry, then rubbed with animal oils to prevent breakage. Quillwork applied to moccasins, baskets, medicine bags, jewelry and other items required much effort, and embroidering a single Plains Indian war shirt took over a year. Quillwork is still practiced today by the Northern Plains Chippewa Indians.

Beadwork

Northern Plains Indians embellished items with beads made from animal bone.

Trappers and traders arrived in the Northern Plains with glass beads from Europe that replaced those made of stone, shells, animal bone and teeth. Crafting detailed patterns with glass beads proved less grueling than working with quills for the Northern Plains Indians. Shoshone Indians, renowned for their floral designs, favored beaded rose motifs, while Arapahos preferred red, blue, yellow and white geometric patterns. Today, beadwork embellishes clothing, moccasins, cradleboards, drums, jewelry, pipes and a multitude of other items.

References

• U.S. Department of the Interior: Indian Arts and Crafts Board: Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, Montana
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History: More About Buffalo Hide Painting
• Montana State University: Star Quilts
• NativeLanguages.org: Native American Quillwork
• Wyoming Guide: From Beadwork to Jackalopes: Tribal Traditions
• Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center: Lakota Quillwork Art and Legend

Resources

• The New York Times: An Exhibition of Indian Quilts Inspired by the Morning Star