Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund

This garter is loom woven probably without the use of a heddle. It is made with garnet and white pony beads on a warp of black and green with thread wefts. The beads are composed in a geometric pattern of rectangles and diagonal lines, opposed as chevrons. See other garters, 50.67 a,c,d.shown in additional photogrpahs.

This garter is loom woven (probably made without the use of a heddle). It is made with white and garnet pony beads on a warp of green yarn and has thread welfts. The beads are composed in a geometric pattern of rectangles and diagonal lines, opposed as chevrons. See other garters 50.67.b,c,d.shown in additional photogrpahs.

This headdress is constructed on a base of red Stroud cloth, formed into a band and decorated with beadwork in a series of "filled triangles." Blue triangular outlines filled with white beads alternate with white outlines filled with blue. A line of white beads is also attached at the lower edge of the red band. Horsehair that has been dyed red is inserted on the top of the band and a ribbon, once green, is tied on at both ends for fastening. An ear lock of horse hair is tied with sinew onto hide thong and a fine crewel yarn cord is hand plaited at the edge where the horsehair is attached.

This side fold dress consists of six pieces: the main body of the dress, the flounce, the shoulder flap, the top bodice, and two hide thongs as a second shoulder strap. The horizontal seam is low and the folded over portion is shorter and would barely cover the breast. The folded over flap is even shorter in the back. The hide is worked so that the flesh side of the skin lies against the wearer, with the fur side out. The flounce is laced with hide thong. The seam of the dress, the blue and white pony beads on the shoulder strap, and the hem tabs are all sewn. It is likely that the two bottom tabs at the left side of the dress are formed from a remnant of the foreleg of the animal or are a decorative form to resemble this pattern technique imitating the animal's legs. Ten quilled stripes are worked around the skirt of the dress, horizontally, in measured registers of blue (once blue-green but faded since original BMA acquisition) and brown quill, separated by shorter sections of white porcupine quill where red tufts, once the tassels, of yarn emerge. Small black lines separate each quilled section. Some vertical marks of what is probably ochre appear at the ends of the quilled bands. Tin cones and a few copper cones are sewn to the bottom of the flounce, more or less at knee length, and on the two bottom tabs, which are further elaborated with an edging of blue and white beads. Five pairs of copper cones are sewn up the side seam. If the shoulder strap is examined from above, blue and white beads can be seen ornamenting the seams. A single row or blue beads edges the sides while the front and back seams display eight bands of two rows of white beads alternating with two rows of blue pony beads. See Jarvis supplemental file in Arts of Americas office or Brooklyn Museum Library.

Plain deerskin, double thickness woman’s belt with blue pony beads wrapped around both edges. Small black seed beads are used near the fringes. At one time the end fringes were wrapped with orange quills, now mostly dissappeared.

Compared to many other Plains leggings this pair is exceptionally short at 25 inches in length. Most others average over 42 inches on the inside seam and some up to 48 inches, with up to 72 inches on the outside seam. The skin on these leggings is the same light color and texture as matching shirt 50.67.7a. They look new and unworn. The leggings are decorated with a single flap, which are cut into short fringes. These fringes are wrapped with alternating red and blue quills. The top of the leggings have every other fringe cut out to create a toothed effect. Like the shirt, these leggings may be unfinished. There are no ties on the upper portion for looping to a belt or fastening at a thigh flap. However, both leggings have a dart sewn at this area, perhaps indicating that a tie was once attached. There is the possibility that these leggings were made in the Metis fashion, observed on several scouts,as knee high only. This would make them the same length as women's leggings. See Jarvis supplemental file in Arts of Americas office.

Along the outside edge of each legging is a strip of quillwork, with red, a white and a purplish-brown stripe. The strip is edged on one side with blue pony beads and on the other with white seed beads. The back of each legging is decorated with horizontal brown painted stripes. Side tabs at the top are sewn on separately, as are the flaps for the heels.

This white buckskin shirt, with the faint remnants of a pinkish stain in the general shoulder area, has a squared cloth bib and cuffs made of red Stroud cloth. This bib has been attached with knotted lengths of buckskin thong. Both bib and cuffs are decorated with white seed beads and additional pony beads are sewn onto the bib. A line of chain stitch embroidery in blue decorates the bib at the front while the back of the bib is plain. A rosette on the front center of the shirt is decorated with reddish-orange and white porcupine quills and brown maidenhair fern stems that are in a configuration that probably represent a thunderbird. Bird quills in white, green, and brown are wrapped around the rawhide strips that are suspended from each shoulder. Additional fringe is inserted in each sleeve seam, which is wrapped at the base with red bird quills and white porcupine quills. Four long, pierced strips, two suspended under each sleeve, are also fringed. Horizontal reddish stripes are painted on the back of the shirt. A rectangular shaped repair, which appears to be of native origin, located on the front of the proper right shoulder, has been reattached to the long pierced tab by a knotted string of hide that matches the existing fringe. See Jarvis research file in Arts of Americas office.

This elaborate shirt is decorated with beads and quillwork executed in several techniques. The bib has a heart and two flower sprays in red, green, and blue porcupine quills. The top edge is decorated with blue pony beads in a two-bead edging technique: red garnet beads were applied along the sides with the same technique. An inner broken line border of small red and black seed beads are also sewn on the bib. Two"rays" or "spokes". The inner ring, now grey, is surrounded by a ring of light blue which is then encircled by a red ring. The radiant rays are filled with areas quilled in pale yellow, light blue, and orange. Each entire rosette is encircled at the seam by large blue pony beads. The shoulder seam "coverings" were finely woven on a loom, but are now very deteriorated. A geometric pattern of red and blue "Xs", interspersed with red and blue diamonds are edged with small squares in red, black, and blue. The shoulder strips are checkered, quilled with three lines of colored squares in orange, blue, purple, black, yellow and white and finished along the sides with a zigzag pattern. The seam ornaments and shoulder strips are both edged with a single line of the blue pony beads. Tabs along each side and along the sleeves have pierced decoration. The "cuffs" are ornamented with two lines of blue pony beads. First, a single line and then a double line closer to the opening.The side seams and sleeves have long fringes, but very tiny fringes at the wrist, with every other one wrapped with orange quills. The comparitively simple decoration and unwrapped fringe are possibly due to the fact the shirt produced exclusively for sale and so rated less decoration. See Jarvis report in Arts of Americas' files.