Wearing Blanket

This blanket echoes an early-19th century style of robe. Some earlier buffalo-hide robes, or mantles, featured long, horizontal rows of embroidered porcupine quills at the center, which concealed seams where hide panels joined. Through the 19th century, animal-skin robes gradually gave way to wearing blankets fashioned from industrially woven cloth. Plains women continued to create decorative strips for new cloth blankets, as seen here, using glass beads instead of quills. Whole cloth blankets lack seams, so beaded bands offer little practical function. Rather, beadwork such as this helped wearers and viewers maintain memories of earlier dress during a disorienting time when new styles proliferated and patterns of daily life transformed.