"Day and Night Robe" is another offering in The Hope Series, a collection of four original native designs produced for the American Indian College Fund by Pendleton Woolen Mills. Professor Arthur Amiotte, a Lakota Sioux, is an internationally exhibiting artist and is widely published on the subject of Native American art. For 25 years he has taught all aspects of native traditional and contemporary studio fine arts. "Day and Night Robe" is a version of the traditional Beaded Strip Blanket worn by the Northern Plains people. Originally the robes were made of bison hides and decorated with a band of beading and quill work. Later these beaded strips were recycled onto wool blankets and secured with lengths of "rainbow selvedge" - colorful trade cloth issued as annuities or treaty payments. During traditional courting, a young Plains man would wrap himself and his beloved in the robe for moments of privacy and conversation. The red and blue halves of the design symbolize particularly sacred days and nights and the blankets are still worn on such occasions. By investing in The Hope Series you further the educational goals of the Tribal Colleges. These goals are twofold: to provide students with the economic tools needed to survive in modern America, and to ensure the preservation of their very cultures, of the skill and emotion that makes artwork like this possible. Measures 64" x 80" $85 of your purchase is tax-deductible. |
© 2005 American Indian College Fund |