Powerfully stylish

Eastern European fashion meets Southeast American Indian function at the Tennessee Valley Art Center's newest exhibit.

A silk turban projecting neon-orange feathers and a green-, white- and red paisley shirt present an accurate alternative to the typical feathered headdresses and buckskin vests that dress American Indians in old movies.

"Eastern U.S. Indian clothing was always different from that," said Dr. Jim Knight, an anthropology professor at the University of Alabama, who specializes in Southeastern North America.

The fashions embody European structure and bright primary colors associated with American Indian culture and are part of "All Dressed Up: Southeastern Indian Attire and Adornment 1750-1836," showing through May 23.

Trading with Europeans influenced the aesthetic of Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole clothing. "What this exhibit primarily is about, is what happens when American Indians started trading with Europeans," said Mary Settle Cooney, executive director of the TVAC. "The whole society changed as a result of it."

An epidemic hit England in the late 1850's and wiped out most of the country's cattle, so the demand for leather increased. American Indians filled that void.

Creeks in South Alabama became so dependent on trade that it eventually led to the downfall of their culture.

Trade also disrupted the equilibrium between men and women. When men were away on hunting trips, they assumed the powerful status females previously held in villages, Berryman said. That shift in power was reflected in style. "During this period, the man dressed far more ornately than the woman," said Jim Berryman, assistant director of the Tennessee Valley Art Center.

Most clothing in the exhibit represents American Indian costumes for special ceremonies and wars. Color signified more than decor: Red represented war and white meant peace. Every day attire was much simpler. On any given day in a village, a female probably wore above-knee skirts, and males wore breach cloths and not much more, Knight said.

The art of expression through clothing was just as relevant in the colonial Native American period as it is now.

"Our social identity is defined by how we're dressed," Berryman said. It was the same for American Indians.

Flowing collared shirts and fringed leather leggings on display wouldn't necessarily look out of place today.

"What's striking, is most women come in here and say 'I can wear that,' " Berryman said.

The exhibit bears more than a few North Alabama connections. A beaded cap in the shape of a Jewish yamulka and a delicate sash that Chief George Colbert gave to a local Shoals family before moving to Oklahoma are on display under a dim light in the art center's back room. Berryman said North Alabamians should find the exhibit significant because many can trace their roots back to American Indian ancestors. "It's more than objects to look at," Cooney said.

Items in the exhibit are on loan from the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Moundville Archeological Park and private collections.

Most clothing and accessories are reproductions, made with the same time-consuming skills from hundreds of years ago.

Berryman commissioned artist Lally Bartman House to make a porcupine quill-

embroidered knife sheath for him - a process that took almost two months and more than 10 hours a day to finish. A mannequin modeling an 18th century Native American male costume displays one of House's sheaths at the TVAC.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley@timesdaily.com.