Uncovered Spaces Participating Artist Wendy Red Star
Lead Faculty at the Chautauqua Institution
Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke/Crow, born Billings, Montana, 1981), Apsáalooke Feminist # 1, 2016. Courtesy of the artist. Copyright Wendy Red Star
Artist Statement
The Elk Tooth Dress
"I have a vivid memory from age five: the brilliant scarlet wool fabric of the elk tooth dress and the smooth shiny elk teeth against my hands. I can still see it in my mind and feel it under my touch. I recall it often. As a teenager I wore a hunter green elk tooth dress as princess for No Water District, at our annual summer Crow Fair celebration. The dress has power: you feel strong and regal wearing it. The construction and making of a classic Crow trade cloth dress teems with cultural richness, meaning, and process. The dress is characterized by the contrasting triangle-like yoke which is overlaid around the neck opening. The yoke pays homage to pre-contact days and the earlier two-hide dresses which folded the tail end of the deer to create a triangle for the neck opening. Meticulously spaced rows of elk teeth decorate the wool dress and symbolize the status of the individual and family of the wearer. The number of elk teeth represent the hunting and trading abilities of the men in the family.
In my art the elk tooth dress specifically symbolizes Crow womanhood and the matrilineal line connecting me to my ancestors. As a mother, I spend hours searching for the perfect elk tooth dress materials to make a prized dress for my daughter. I look for the perfect wool trade cloth in a medium weight: not too thick or thin. During the mid to late 19th century, Apsáalooke women began using wool trade cloth or saved-list cloth for their dresses in navy blue, scarlet or red, and, occasionally, Kelly green. The scarlet or red wool was originally dyed using the carminic acid of the female cochineal insects during the colonial period before chemical dyes. The trade cloth of today comes in a range of colors from lime green to soft baby pink. The true hunt is finding the most realistic imitation elk ivories to make the best overall dress. Only the two “eye” teeth of a bull elk are used to adorn an elk tooth dress, providing evidence of the hunting abilities within the wearer’s male relatives. A dress decorated with many rows of elk teeth also indicated the wearer’s rank and wealth. Imitation elk teeth began showing up in the 19th century, carved from bone or wood due to the decline of elk populations and the geographical confinement of Apsáalooke to the reservation. Even though the contemporary elk tooth dress is mostly comprised of imitation teeth, the symbolism carries the same honors and most often you can find a few real teeth in the yoke or incorporated into the body of the dress. Elk teeth represent longevity: after the body of the elk has rotted away, the ivories remain.
Many hours, days, and months comprise the crafting of the elk tooth dress with its distinct characteristics: true sleeves, long, tapered, and closed; a straight hemline with no side gusset; and a yoke of contrasting color outlined with a narrow lane of lazy stitch beadwork. The tedious placement of elk teeth, each a thumb-width apart, and the countless touching, pulling, and shifting of the wool with each sewn elk tooth sometimes numbers upwards of four hundred teeth per side. The time is worth the experience of carefully dressing my daughter in her new dress. It starts with the silk underdress. Next, I gather her elk tooth dress from the hem to the armpits and ask her to raise her arms over her head. I slip the dress over her head and onto her arms making sure to pull the underdress down, so it does not bunch up. I part my daughter’s hair down the middle and braid her hair in two braids that cover her ears just like my grandmother wore, and her grandmother before her, fashioned in the perfect classic Crow women’s hair style. I help her with her moccasins and leggings.
“Let’s use the floral beadwork this time,” as she motions to the suitcase containing all the accessories. I pull out the floral belt with the rose purse with the powder blue beaded background designed by my grandmother and made by mother. I find the matching hair ties. I remind myself that everything must match, just as I’ve been taught in accordance with Apsáalooke aesthetics. I adjust her dress under her belt and ask her to turn around so I can put a hairpipe bone and pink conch chocker around her neck. I pull out from the suitcase a vintage floral silk scarf and place it first over her head and tie a knot under her chin. When I’m finished, I pull the scarf down, so it rests around her neck. I add the final details: a beaded headband, lipstick for her lips, and special face paint gifted to her from a relative, and as many beaded bracelets as I can find. Before we take the walk from our camp to the dance arbor, I give her a blue shawl with metallic floral applique made by my grandmother, a fan made from hawk feathers, and a beaded bag with a yellow horse on it. She looks at me and says, 'I feel just like royalty when I put my dress on.' Inside my body I feel a beam of pride and know that my job is finished, and this gift of cultural richness is going to continue on to the next generation of Apsáalooke women so beautifully and regally clad in their elk tooth dresses."
Biography
Raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, Wendy Red Star’s work is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance. An avid researcher of archives and historical narratives, Red Star seeks to incorporate and recast her research, offering new and unexpected perspectives in work that is at once inquisitive, witty and unsettling. Red Star holds a BFA from Montana State University, Bozeman, and an MFA in sculpture from University of California, Los Angeles. She lives and works in Portland, OR.
For more information:
Wendy Red Star Website
Sargent's Daughters Gallery
Houston Center for Photography
The Met
Vogue
@wendyredstar