Exploit robes were painted as a record of an individual's valor in the defense and support of his people. Events in which spiritual power was gained were also illustrated. Robes were worn, displayed, and used as a reminder when a warrior told his story. The true meaning was held by the owner.
Finely decorated shirts, generically called warshirts, were worn to display valor, authority, spiritual power, vanity and, on momentous occasions, worn to war. They were made from deer, elk, mountain sheep and buffalo. Decorations were paint, hair, beads quill, feathers, metal, shells, cloth and fringe.
Plains dresses were usually made of two or three tanned deer skins. An everyday dress had little or no decoration. Most of the subjects I paint are more typical of those made for special occasions. Many days were invested in a quilled or beaded dress. Anything distinctive might be used to adorn a special dress; hair, paint, metals, cloth, shells, animal teeth, bones, fur and, of course, feathers.
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