Most were gathered up over a hundred years ago so they were at one time worn by the people who made them. These are ceremonial shirts showing the best of Indian craftsmanship, not for decoration only but to infuse the wearer with a spirituality that can envelop him. One wishes to see them in their flowering, on the men who earned them, and hear the stories of why the tribe honored them. A shirt that once conformed to a Plains Indian body is now standing in this hall, empty but for the support of a mannequin form, here to be studied and admired. These shirts have hypnotic presence, because they are not recreations but the real thing, and somebody once wore them. Published by the University of Minnesota Press.įorty-three shirts are standing in the exhibition halls to be looked at and meditated upon, and it is quite a sight. You can also order the book on line or buy it at the museum’s gift shop ($34.95). “Beauty, Honor, Tradition: The Legacy of Plains Indian Shirts,” to May 16, 2004. The show was only up through May 16, but there is a book just out from University of Minnesota Press that serves as the exhibitions catalogue. Dean Seal reviews the fine exhibition of Plains Indian shirts at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
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