Page 92 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

C H APTER Two

reaction to Native American women more succinctly. "As to personal
appearance, with very few exceptions, I can only specify three degrees­
horrible, more horrible, most horrible."154
Y e t when they turned their attention to the matter of women's
dress, most Europeans did not seem to be describing ugly, filthy women.
After a negative statement about Indian women, Isaac W e ld went on to
recount the ribbons, jewelry, and profusion of ornaments with which
they adorned themselves. 155 Others also spoke of the ribbons, shells,
f e athers, beautiful dresses, delicate moccasins, and ornaments favored by
Indian women.156 In addition, there were f r equent comments regard­
ing carefully arranged hairdos. 157 "Their hair is very beautiful," Xantus
wrote of native women in Missouri, "always dressed with great care and
f a lling softly on the shoulders." 158 Even those who encountered poor
Indians complimented women's dress. Harriet Martineau was impressed
by native women in Oneida, New Y o rk, who were neatly dressed and
wrapped in clean blankets. Fredrika Bremer complimented Indian
women in St. Paul f o r being "less painted, and with better taste than the
men." 159 And in r898, the English observer Trevelyan stated that Indian
women dressed "like shabby Americans." 160
Oddly enough, this was not the way American Indian women
appeared in most European novels, where they were often presented as
lovely young maidens or as princesses in exotic garb. During the early
r 8 40s, Marryat characterized them as adorned in doeskin shirts,
embroidered moccasins, ankle and wrist bracelets, and with jewels in
their luxuriant hair. 161 In r845, another writer visualized his heroine
in an elegant sheepskin cloak, porcupine-quill work, and elks' teeth
ornaments. 162 Beads, tinkling silver bells, scarlet leggings, partially nude
bosoms, hair that reached almost to the ground, and wampum belts
were also mentioned by many authors.163 In r878, Gustave Aimard cre­
ated a prototype of these maidens when he introduced Ova, a chief's
daughter, who wore "a tunic of water-green colour, f a stened around
her waist by a wampum-belt, with a large golden buckle." According
to Aimard, she was much loved by all; when she danced f o r her f a ther,
"the old man's f o rehead became unwrinkled" and her lover brought
her "perfumes of grizzly bears' grease, necklaces of alligator's teeth, and
wampum girdles."164