Quilled/Beaded Yoke Dress - Standing Rock Sioux

The T-shaped dress is made of deerskin is adorned primarily with a yoke combining beadwork and quillwork (identical/continuous on front and back). This unique combination makes the dress quite rare. The decorative panel runs horizontally across the bodice and sleeves. The quillwork design using pink-dyed quills is of repeating and alternating geometric motifs [boxes, oblong oval shapes (resembling a canoe bottom) and outline forms (around horizontally placed hourglass shapes)]. The quillwork is incorporated into the over (larger) lazy-stitched beadwork panel. The background is of medium blue beads and has matching line and triangle bordering designs (repeating pairs of royal blue, inverted triangles on a centered red line; outlined on each side with white lines, and again on bottom chest and sleeve lines. The sleeves are wide cut, three quarter length, and open with long deerskin (approx. 9" in length). Underneath the bodice, the center of the dress is comprised of two horizontal sections of hide (each 6" wide) sewn together. The remaining bottom half is made of larger skin sections, sewn together with vertical seams; having shorter fringe down side seams and along bottom edge. Many additional decorative fringe and bead tassels (2-fold strips with a single large read bead, attached through holes in hide) decorate both sides of the bottom half of the dress.