Threads Through Time: Ribbon Skirt

TAHLEQUAH – The ribbon skirt, while fashionable, stems from the histories of tribal wear such as wrap skirts and tear dresses, though it is not specific to one tribe. Today, the ribbon skirt is made and worn by all tribal nations as a symbol of solidarity in being Indigenous.

Her story: Nakiah Mouse, 24, of Tahlequah, learned to sew from her grandmother at a young age making baby blanket and bags. Her interest in creating the ribbon skirt started nearly 10 years ago.

"I was probably seven the first time I asked my grandma if I could start sewing and she was like, ‘well, I can start teaching you,’" Mouse said. "When I started making ribbon skirts, I was probably like 15 or 16. They weren't super popular around here at the time in Tahlequah or Tulsa area."

She said her grandmother made her first skirt for her high school graduation. From there she went on to learn more about and study the ribbon skirt and how to make them.

"My grandma, she was raised in the mission. So, she didn't learn anything about our culture when she was growing up. It's definitely things that I have learned throughout the process of me making them because there's still things I'm learning to this day about them," Mouse said.

Ribbon skirt history: Textile artist and Cherokee National Treasure Tonia Weavel said ribbon skirts are a "new phenomenon," really becoming popular within the last five to 10 years.

"A lot of people relate to the ribbon skirt because it's non-tribal. All tribes utilize the ribbon skirt," Weavel said. "I think for women, it's kind of a show of solidarity. It's a show of Indigenous nations. It's a prideful, physical showing of Indigenous women. So, I think that it doesn't have anything rooted or steeped in Cherokee history. But the ribbon skirt today has really influenced, especially our younger generation, in a coming together and a support of all Indigenous nations."

Weavel said historically, Cherokee women wore wrap skirts with fibers made from the bark of mulberry trees until the trade era in the early 1700s.

"As a matter of fact, our Cherokee women often would unravel the wool or the blankets and use the yarn and reweave things that they wanted. So we had that source. When we got that wool, guess what? We still wrapped it. So the style of the skirt never changed. The materials for the skirt changed. When we got the wool and we began to trade then we began to trade for this beautiful silk ribbon."

Cherokee women began decorating their wool wrap skirts with silk ribbon or "bed lace," as it was called.

"We started decorating the skirts with the ribbon," Weavel said. "We lined the edges of it, we lined the hem of it. We put rings of ribbon around the bottom of it. We put silver brooches on the skirts. We began to decorate them. So, ribbons and skirts have a long history with Cherokee people, just a different style. We've sort of returned to that."

She said the flair for decorating clothing became secondary when the Treaty of New Echota was signed and the events that happened thereafter.

"A lot of the beauty of the beautiful things that we did, the leisure, textile arts faded away because we were trying to stay alive," she said.

As the century progressed, Weavel said Cherokee women turned to the utilitarian dress, known today as the tear dress. From there, the ribbon skirt among many tribes began to make its way into modern-style Indigenous fashion.

"So, to go from a ribbon skirt of today's liking, where girls and women choose their fabric, they choose the ribbon, they choose designs, it really does kind of weave into our history," Weavel said. "It's not specific to Cherokees, to my knowledge, it's not specific to any tribe. But it is this wonderful show of solidarity among young and older Native women to show women's strength."

Ribbon skirt today: The creators and wearers of ribbon skirts utilize the skirt for several reasons. Some are used in certain ceremonial settings while others are used to show tribal identity and contributions to what is considered modern Indigenous fashion.

"It's like life skills," Mouse said. "My grandma was definitely happy that she has taught me that so I can fix my clothes if I need to. Then I can create things as well. I get a lot of joy out of making them. Especially when I see the final result of them and how happy they make other people. It just brings me a lot of joy knowing that I could bring that to them."