PRIMITIVE ART 



25 



and the back. It appears on most of the beaded dresses, and 

 is placed there partly for decora- 

 tion, and partly because it is the 

 prevailing style. The old women 

 know that in former times the de- 

 sign of the turtle was placed on the 

 dress as a kind of prayer to the 

 mythical turtle, who was believed 

 to be the guardian spirit watching 

 over the lives of women. Now 

 they say that the design is placed 

 on the dress simply because "that 

 is the way." Thus we have a de- 

 sign which was formerly sacred and 

 symbolic, but is now chiefly deco- 

 rative. The painted decorations 



upon the buffalo-robes of men and women are of this type also. 



In general, the decorative art of the 

 Sioux presents three types, or perhaps 

 stages, in the development of primitive art, 

 — a purely decorative type, a purely sym- 

 bolic type and an intermediate conven- 

 |tional type. The men employ the same 

 simple and combined geometrical designs 

 as are used by the women, but for the pre- 

 sentation of military ideas. Thus, the moc- 

 casin (Case 24. g) shown here represents a 

 battle in which the wearer participated. 

 The triangular designs around the sole (the 

 tent pattern) represent hills ; the small rec- 

 tangles (the box pattern), enemies standing 

 between the hills ; the small marks upon 

 each hill design, bullets striking. The in- 

 step of the moccasin is colored red to repre- 

 sent blood, and the triangular design within 

 the red area represents an arrow. The idea 

 to be conveyed is, that the owner engaged in a battle in w^hich 

 the enemy took refuge in the hills, and that blood was shed. 



