Dignity and Dejection

"Her hair, contrary to the fashion of the Massachusetts Indians, was parted on her forehead, braided and confined to her head by a band of small feathers, jet black and interwoven, and attached at equal distances by rings of polished bone. She wore a waistcoat of deer-skin, fashioned at the throat by richly wrought collar. Her arms, a model for sculpture, were bare. A mantle of purple cloth hung gracefully from her shoulders, and was confined at the waist by a broad band, ornamented with rude hieroglyphics. The mantle and her strait short petticoat or kilt of the same rare and costly material had been obtained, probably from the English Traders. Stockings were an unknown luxury; but leggins, similar to those worn by the ladies of Queen Elizabeth's court, were no bad substitute. The moccasin, neatly fitted to a delicate foot and ankle, and tastefully ornamented with bead-work, completed the apparel of this daughter of a chieftain, which altogether, had an air of wild and fantastic grace, that harmonized well with the noble demeanor and peculiar beauty of the young savage." 
So begins the reader's  introduction to the Pequot Chieftain's daughter, Magawisca in Catherine Maria Sedgewick's seminal historical novel, Hope Leslie. To the best of my knowledge, this paragraph stands out as the most detailed description of attire in book where fashion is key to one's understanding of characters and  an underlying factor in many important plot points. (The Pequot raid that sets off the Native American/White tensions that consume the latter half of the book can be traced back to Dame Grafton's insistence that she take the only armed guard on her shopping spree. Airheads, it would seem, are nothing new but rather, an integral part of history) Depending on how you look at it the attention to detail present in Sedgwicks description of Magawisca  correlates to the surprising richness and nuance of her character or could also be seen as indicative of a more of puerile interest in defining the "other." The noble savage archetype, ever present in 19th century artistic representations of Native Americans is clearly at work, here, as well.

 r

The description also recalls  Pocohantas.  Adapted into the requisite racist Disney movie in the mid 90s.

 Why do Disney villains all look like shrunken apple heads?
Personally, the modern  pop culture image that Magawisca conjures up for me is not of Pocohantas (on which her character was supposedly based) but of Tiger Lily from Disney's Peter Pan.

 Tiger Lily and her chieftain father were most likely my first encounter with Native American Culture when I was three or four years old and it is interesting to think about how many of the basic things that I gleaned about "Indians" as a youngster from watching that movie also corresponds with what one would take away from a surface reading of Hope Leslie.
Here is a list of what I leared
1.) Indian men are really scary and look like shrunken apple heads. They will tie you up and chop you  with their tomahawks if they ever get their hands on you. ( I used to  have horrible nightmares about Tiger Lily's father.)
2.) Tiger Lily, in contrast, is cute and stylish and will save you from her father.
3.) On some level, I want to be Tiger Lily
4.) Even though Peter Pan totally has a crush on Tiger Lily, the more strait laced and "conventional" (read: white) Wendy will win out and be his true love interest in the end.
 I recall that many of the games that I played  with my barbies with my friend Maud at this time were based around this "logic" and usually involved tying up a certain Skipper doll with a shoelace, but I digress...
Anyone versed in the basics of Hope Leslie's plot can see that there are many similarities between the roles that Tiger Lily and Magawisca have played in the understanding of Native Americans in the cultural imagination.   I would like to focus on what I consider to be the more interesting items on my list (2 and 3) and their point of intersection i.e.  how  appreciation of style can lead to an identification with those who are supposedly different than you. In many ways, the associations that are produced from an admiration of style mirrors the cultural work that books like Hope Leslie enacts on its readers. Just as nuanced critique of a person's style can provide  insight into their personality and their social position, a close reading of the seemingly stereotyped characters in Sedgwick's novel can lead one to the conclusion that more lies beneath the surface. Furthermore, both the stereotyped characters and admiration of different fashions are an easy way to digest culture that can possibly generate a  more enlightened knowledge down the line. In effect, appreciation of fashion and arguably, sentimental fiction are the shiny lure that hooks you in and pulls you out of your comfort zone  understanding of cultural (and perhaps class, racial and gender) differences.

 I think we can all agree that Cher's bedazzled loin cloth will be the shiny lure that leads us to salvation

Although this is in many ways an imperfect path to  tolerance, it provides a liberating alternative to the unsettling fear  and hatred incited by straight up xenophobia. Indeed, Tiger Lily's and Magawisca's  appeal balances out the nightmares that their fathers inspire and just as they rescue the young male protagonists from their father's violence, identification with them saves both the reader and the viewer from the cultural prejudice and fear feed to them by the patriarchy. In conclusion, stylish and sassy girls who rebel against their fathers are clearly the answer to all of the world's problems. 
In any event, here are some pictures of an outfit I put together based on Sedgwick's description of Magawisca

In case you didn't get the memo,  chicken bones and feathers will be as hip in Fall 2011 as butterfly clips  were in the late 1990s. Very Sedgewick Chic, non?

 Somethings I noticed while styling this outfit that speak to Magawisca's character where that:
1.) Sedgewick describes lot of different layers which made putting it together very difficult- I don't think my interpretation comes close to her original vision.
2.) Magawisca is actually wearing a lot more European clothing than I initially thought. Contrast that with  Tiger Lily or Pocohantas's  outfits many years  later; although their clothes are obviously not authentically Native American, they clearly mark them as distinct from their European compatriots. Furthermore, they are incredibly simple. Comparatively, Magawisca's attire is probably a lot more historically accurate and complex. Although we like to think of ourselves as becoming increasingly enlightened as we move through time, obviously this isn't necessarily the case .
3.) Magawisca is incredibly fierce. I have the most admiration for people who can successfully blend several contrasting  pieces together and still come up with an outfit that works. It takes real skill to do that!