Since our daughter's birth two years ago, our family has outfitted her with traditional Native American clothes (sometimes called "regalia") that are representative of her multi-tribal make up and worn for special occasions. She has had two Navajo outfits thus far.
This is her first Dine' outfit: a purple dress made to look like the camp style velvet top and broomstick skirt. Zho had hers commissioned by her mayazhi (auntie) in Arizona by award winning designer Michelle Silver, for her A'wee Chi'deedloh (Baby's First Laugh Celebration). This was summertime and it had to be cool, so her version is sleeveless, although traditionally these are long sleeved blouses.
She wore it with her (oversized but functional!) sash belt, two of her turquoise and coral bracelets (from her Nali Kumas and her Masani) and her mayazhi's baby squash blossom. Her footwear is the traditional women's style wrap-around moccasins, also provided by her mayazhi!
Here, Zho is with her dad and I at his tribes annual pow wow. Little known fact: the fringe on a sash belt is also very tasty to the teething infant.
Masani bought Zho's second Navajo outfit when we all went on a trip back to the Navajo reservation last year for my nephew's High School graduation.
She wears her velvet top and skirt with a turquoise necklace given to me by my husband's gram and a jacla given to me by our family friend's granddaughter when she was royalty at a prominent pow wow in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the summertime (on the R), she wears her nali kumas' turquoise brooch and in the falltime (on the L) she is wearing one of my earrings (given to me by shima (my mother)) as a brooch. She also wears a "concho belt" that is not a REAL concho belt, but one that was given to me by one of my mayazhis as more of a fashion accessory. When they are small like this, one can get creative with the jewelry options on hand. She is wearing her turquoise earrings and low top Navajo moccasins, both given to her by my sister.
I was reminded of my husbands artistry and talents this weekend as I dressed our daughter in her Narragansett clothes for an event at a local Museum. Something I have learned from husband is that it is an act of bravery to give life to a thought. To turn something that only you can see when you close your eyes into something that the world can touch, see, taste or smell requires a degree of fearlessness. That is what my husband gives us when he has a vision and he makes it reality with his hands. (He even does this in the kitchen. And we have had some delicious, albeit interesting, dinners as a result.) He made, designed, and selected pieces for her Northeastern Woodlands outfit and his talents and vision are showcased by our sweet little beauty.
Zho wears a cotton top that evokes the muslin tops Native women here in the Northeast would wear in the early 17th century with a tradecloth wrap around skirt. My husband also made her deerskin center seam moccasins and her coordinating deerskin bag with glass beads, tradecloth, wampum, and beaver pelt accents.
Zho's wampum earrings were on loan to us courtesy Nali Kumas and were made by a local Pequot artist. Her strings of brass and glass trade beads are her fathers. Her sash belt is tied in the back, Northeastern Woodlands style. Note her super traditional hair elastics.
Her cradleboard was purchased a few years ago during a trip back to chei and masani's house in Ada, Oklahoma. I wish we had taken note of the artist who made the cradleboard because it is the perfect size for her now, we would love to have another that is a little bigger when she is older. This cradleboard fits a cornhusk doll made for her by her Nali Kumas. We wrapped her doll in a coordinating piece of tradecloth. There is nothing more embarrassing than a cradleboard swaddle that doesn't match your outfit.
The event took place outside and the weather was perfect, but still too warm for her to wear leggings. Yazhi was very well behaved and worked very hard at being the most period-correct Narragansett little girl she could be. I had a wonderful time watching her "work" and no matter what she wears she is always clothed in kindness, intelligence, and humor.
