| The
Cherokee Tear Dress
by Leuwanna "Laughing Waters" Williams
and Barbara "Shining Woman" Warren
| The
traditional dress of the Cherokee women is called the "tear dress".
The information on the tear dress is very limited. The style of the
dress was probably fashioned after the colonial women's dresses of the
day. The dress worn for everyday use was made of cotton calico with
dark background and lighter colored figures within the pattern.
The choice of the darker fabric may have been to
help hide the soil from everyday wear. Cherokee women also used wool
for cold weather, and satin and velvet for dress-up and formal wear.
Cherokee women were encouraged by the federal government to produce
cotton cloth. They learned to spin and weave very early because the
government believed that the Indians needed to be educated and "civilized"
in the useful arts.
Today's tear dress usually is made from cotton
calico with a bodice that has buttons running from the neck to the waist.
The neck has a narrow stand-up collar with a small ruffle. The dress
is generally made with a fitted waist line, long or three-quarter length
sleeves, a gathered ruffle on the lower edge of the skirt and is usually
worn floor length. |
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Contrasting ribbon is often sewn on the back and front
of the bodice, the sleeves and just above the ruffle. Sometimes solid colored
cotton strips with patterned shape cut-outs are used instead of ribbon.
Once completed, the tear dress is one of the most attractive and comfortable
dresses of any of the Tribes.
Because of the hardships of the Trail of Tears, 1838-39,
often Cherokee women did not have scissors with which to cut material.
In lieu of cutting, they tore the material into square or rectangle pieces
that were then sewn by hand. Thus originated the term for the "tear"
dress that reflects a double meaning; "tear" for the torn cloth;
"tear" for the tears shed during the terrible ordeal on "the
trail where they cried." The tear dress has become the traditional
dress of Cherokee women and is now worn in remembrance of the Trail of
Tears.
Tear Dress shown worn by Marilyn Lowe sewn by Leuwanna
Williams
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