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 
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know that in former times the de- 
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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 which 
the enemy took refuge in the hills, and that blood was shed. 
