Dance Blanket, c. 1840–50
A steady source of income, the fur trade provided much political power to many Native American
tribes involved in it. Jane Dickson’s mother was of Anishinaabe-European descent, and her Dakhóta- European father was William Dickson, the grandson of Wakíŋyaŋdúta. Her grandfather Robert Dickson was a fur trader who fought in the War of 1812 in an attempt to establish Minnesota as a British colony. She lived among her Dakhóta family in South Dakota, where she met her husband, Joseph LaFramboi- se, who also came from generations of fur traders. He was a descendant of Kewinoquot, leader of the Ottawa tribe, and his mother was one of the most successful traders in history, Madeline LaFramboise.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Dakhóta villages consisted of many large extended families (thiyóšpaye). Rules of kinship bonds regulated the economy, production, and trade of goods. The thiyóšpaye refused to trade only for economic reasons, illuminating how personal relationships were pivotal for the success of the fur trade. For European-Americans to trade with the Dakhóta, they had to create social bonds. The most successful traders married into the Dakhóta kinship society, which also raised the status of the family of the Dakhóta woman through access to European goods. Similar kinship-marriage relationships were established between various tribes and European traders in the Great Lakes and Plains regions; women served as cultural liaisons between European and Indigenous traders. For many decades, the fur trade peacefully contributed to many economies and created new ethnic groups consisting of mixed-heritage people.
Dakhóta Beadwork
Created at the end of the fur trade era, this rare blanket combines ribbonwork with beadwork, two very important and innovative decorative forms to Native Americans. Dakhóta designs frequently featured floral motifs, and it is possible that the designs in this blanket represent stylized Native plant species used for cooking or as medicine. It is not known if Jane Dickson created the beadwork herself, but based on the style, it was likely made by a Dakhóta woman. The ribbon appliqué work is unattributed to a tribe, as many in the region were capable of doing such fine work. It is possible more than one woman worked on the blanket.
Indeed, much of the fur trade was women’s work. While Dakhóta men would hunt for the furs, it was the women who cleaned and prepared the hides for trade. Only properly tanned hides had value, and that value was enhanced by the quillwork or beadwork added by women.
By the time this blanket was made, beads had become an integral part of Plains art. Prior to the acquisition of beads, brought by European traders, women embroi- dered plant-dyed porcupine quills on bison hides using bone awls. Quillwork was thought to add special powers linked to the symbols or colors incorporated in the design. Beadwork was an innovative method for Native artists who adapted the European-made materials to their traditions. When the fur trade expanded to the Plains, the introduction of cloth, thread, and glass beads hastened the decline in use of earlier bone tools, replaced by metal awls and needles more suitable to beadwork.
After the French Revolution in 1789, ribbons became unfashionable in Europe and were exported to North America for use in the fur trade. Woodlands and Plains artists quickly adapted the silk and satin ribbons to create a form of appliqué decoration using traditional designs not seen before in Europe. With the ribbons, women created geometric patterns in a reverse-ap- pliqué technique of sewing cut-out ribbon patterns onto a background of a contrasting color ribbon. The more complex the design, the more desirable and valued the object was to own and wear.
This blanket embodies the history of generations of both Indigenous and European fur traders. Many tribes today continue to use similar beadwork and ribbon appliqué to create dancing regalia for powwows. This dance blanket represents the powerful roles of women in the economy of their tribe as both artists and providers for their people. A representation of the blending of Minnesota history, cultures, and ways of life, it is a symbol of the beauty that can come from the meeting of people.
Questions for Discussion
What part of this dance blanket did you notice first? What about that part drew your attention?
Describe the blanket. Describe the designs. Which designs are organic? Which are geometric? What images do you recognize? What images do you wonder about? Why might these types of designs appeal to the Dakhóta? What kinds of things do you use plants for today? What kinds of things in your environment (outside and inside) inspire you?
Look at details of the designs. What materials do the artists use to make them? What do you see that makes you say that? Artists valued the materials for their unique qualities. Today, what might you value most about the glass beads? The silk ribbons?
Think about stitching all of these beads and sewing all of these ribbons to the wool blanket, which measures about 41⁄2 by 5 feet. What activities are important to you even though they are time-consum- ing and require a lot of patience?