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Museum Minute: Elk teeth on a Crow dress displays importance of children

A red wool dress at the Plains Indian Museum has dozens of elk teeth on it.
Plains Indian Museum
Elk teeth are sewn onto a wool dress that was made for a child. The dress was made by an Apsáalooke (Crow) maker, ca. 1890.

Some Plains Indian cultures used elk teeth to decorate clothing and make jewelry. Heather Bender, the native education outreach specialist in the education department at the Center of the West, said one example is a 1890 Apsáalooke (Crow) red wool dress made for a child. It has dozens of elk teeth on it that are considered ivory.

“Mother, grandmother, aunt, spent time…somebody had to kill the elk, gather the ivories, keep them over time, make sure they had enough of the ivories to create this dress for a child,” she said.

Bender said this dress shows the importance of children in the culture. She said in Western cultures, some say ‘children should be seen, not heard.’

“Not in native communities. They're integral. They're the next generation, and they're valued and loved, and you can see that in the care and attention that's been given to this particular dress,” Bender said.

Leave a tip: oweitz@uwyo.edu
Olivia Weitz is based at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody. She covers Yellowstone National Park, wildlife, and arts and culture throughout the region. Olivia’s work has aired on NPR and member stations across the Mountain West. She is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound and the Transom story workshop. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, cooking, and going to festivals that celebrate folk art and music.

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