Chickasaw Cultural Center hosts regalia showcase featuring centuries of Chickasaw and Choctaw dress

Every woven fiber, hairstyle or tattoo can carry a story. This was the message shared during the Southeastern Indian Traditional and Modern Regalia Showcase June 11 at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, where attendees were guided through centuries of Chickasaw and Choctaw clothing traditions while learning regalia represents far more than clothing alone for Southeastern tribes.

The showcase featured multiple eras of Chickasaw and Choctaw history, demonstrating how clothing evolved from the precontact period to the colonial era with European trade influence, then Removal and lastly, the modern-day traditional dress. Each outfit reflected years of research using archaeology, historical artwork, museum collections, written accounts and oral tradition.

The presentation illustrated not only how styles changed over time, but also how Southeastern tribes adapted to changing circumstances while maintaining their unique identity.

“Our Ancestors still are using the spun-style of cotton that was introduced by the Europeans, but the style changed,” LaDonna Brown, Chickasaw Nation Director of Anthropology, said, referring to garments worn by models Pat Greenwood Cox and Virgil Walker, representing Chickasaw dress during the Removal period. “This is what our Ancestors would have worn during our Removal. It is a huge honor for us to wear these clothes representing our Ancestors who came on that journey from our Homeland to here in Indian Territory.”

Cox wore a prairie dress with a matching bonnet and apron, a woman’s working attire for the time period. Walker wore a hunting jacket, decorated with silver brooches and a silver buckle. He also wore a turban, which was introduced to Chickasaw culture in the early 1800s.

Jennifer Byram, one of the presentation speakers and a research assistant for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Department, said recreating historic clothing requires drawing information from numerous sources.

“We modeled this off of text references as well as paintings from this mid-1700s period that shows kind of this combination as well as archaeological records,” Byram said, referring to colonial era Choctaw dress, modeled by Kyra Hornbuckle.

Hornbuckle wore a twine top, trade cloth skirt, moccasins and a trade cloth ribbon in her hair. She also held a basket, filled with bear grass and other traditional weaving materials. She was adorned with necklaces and earrings, made from a variety of trade beads, shell and animal bones.

“While it was a really difficult time period in the 1700s, women were still making a lot of art, making textiles and clothing, making beadwork for men and their families as well,” Byram said. “There’s a lot being made even during such a changing and difficult time period.

T’ata Begay, a presentation speaker and community liaison for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Department, said culture continues to evolve while remaining rooted in tradition. Begay has a doctoral degree in education.

“There’s always a time and place to get fully decked out, wear our traditional Choctaw regalia like this,” she said. “But even in more modern times, going to work, working for the tribe, going to represent in different ways, we like to incorporate our culture in many different aspects.”

Following the fashion presentation, panelists discussed the extensive research behind recreating historic regalia and the importance of honoring ancestors through accurate representation.

Brown said recreating clothing from different time periods requires careful examination of historical evidence while recognizing there is still much left to discover.

“I’m hoping that there are going to be other people that come behind us,” Brown said. “There are a lot more things out there for us to research.”

Brown said the clothing represents something much deeper than historical fashion.
“All of this clothing that’s represented here on this stage is in honor and respect to our Ancestors,” she said.

That distinction became a recurring theme throughout the discussion.

Panelists stressed traditional clothing should never be viewed as costumes but rather as expressions of identity, resilience and respect for previous generations.
Begay said cultural knowledge has been continuous.

“I like to quote Ian Thompson that says something that I really love, where he says our culture was never lost, it was never forgotten, but it was simply sleeping,” she said. “Maybe it’s not going to be us as researchers, but maybe the next generation of researchers that comes back, hones in on something, delves deep into it and reawakens that part of culture.”

As the discussion concluded, panelists encouraged younger generations to explore their heritage through research, craftsmanship and cultural practice.

Brown said today’s technology provides unprecedented opportunities to learn but cautioned that meaningful understanding still requires careful research and guidance from reliable sources.

“If we look back to who we are as First American people, and who we are as Chickasaw people or as Choctaw people, then we really begin to see that our Ancestors had a major culture, major self-identity,” Brown said. “We just need to research and tap into it and then begin to incorporate that into our lives.”