Free Web space and hosting from freehomepage.com
Search the Web


REGALIA
  Home Page | About The O.A. | About The Dance Team | Schedule | Contact The Team | O.A. Photos | Dancer's Photos | Dance Photos | Favorite Links | Dance Styles | Regalia | How To - Drum Care | How To - Beadwork | How To - Hide Preperation | Guest Book Page | Photo6 Page | Photo5 Page  


BANDOLIERS: Bandoliers are long strings of bone hairpipe and beads that are worn on the body from the shoulder across the chest to the opposite hip. Most dancers (straight and traditional) may wear one or two. There are many different styles of bandoliers available, and materials can vary slightly, such as having mescal beans or rifle casings instead of bone hairpipe.

BREASTPLATE: The breastplate is an assortment of thin hollowed out bones that are strung together in rows and hung from the neck for protection. Originally they were shorter but today they often reach a dancer's waist or knees. Over time they have become more decorati on than anything else. Today breastplates are part of several dance styles.

BUSTLE, TRADITIONAL: Bustles are arrangements of feathers that are worn on the body. Originally, bustles were worn by only a few honored dancers, but as time progressed, they became part of the Traditional and Fancy Dance Outfits. Fancy dancers can use turkey, hawk, and eag le feathers to make the twin bustles they wear. If they are making their bustles in the "Oklahoma" style, multi-colored hackle feathers are attached to the main feathers to produce the rows of colors. Traditionals almost always use eagle feathers to make bustles. An all-tail feather bustle is very sought after, but mixtures of tail and wing and all-wing are still very beautiful. Bustles can be decorated with horsehair, angora fur, eagle fluffs, and white leather spots.

DANCE STAFF: A dance staff is a long "stick" held in one hand by many dancers as they dance. It may be decorated with beadwork, feathers, and colored tape and often has objects attached to it, such as an eagle 's foot or head, a bull's horn or antlers. The decoration of the staff is entirely left up to the dancer. The staff is related in history to the coup stick, a staff carried into battle by many tribes. It was considered a greater honor to be able to strike an enemy with a coup stick and return safely than to kill him.

FANS: In the Pow Wow sense, a fan is a group of feathers a person can use to fan themselves with. There are several different varieties, including flat fan, wing fan, and loose fan. A flat fan is made usually from the tail feathers of an eagle, a wing fan is m ade either from the entire wing outside of the knuckle or of a few wing feathers, and a loose fan is made from an assortment of eagle, hawk or macaw feathers that are bound loosely on a beaded base.

MOCCASINS: Moccasins are the traditional footwear of many Native American tribes. Although in the past there were many styles, the predominant style today is that of the Plains tribes, because it has a hard sole that stands up to the rigors of several months of har d dancing. Moccasins can be beaded or quilled, and are sometimes left plain.

ROACH: A roach, in the pow wow sense, is a type of headress made from tied porcupine and deer hair. Usually there are several rows of each hair tied onto a woven base so that the hairs will stand upright and move gracefully with the movement of the dancer. The deer hair is placed outside of the longer porcupine hair and may be dyed to match the regalia of the person who is wearing it. They are held on a dancer's head either with a scalp lock, a braided piece of hair, which is brought up through a hole in the t he middle of the base and then run through with a roach pin, or with shoestrings that are attached to the roach pin and tied around the head. Although historically roaches were only made about 12 to 15 inches in length, today longer r oaches are in style, varying from 18 to 22 inches, normally. Occasionally some are seen up to 36 inches. Roaches are the most common form of headress found at modern pow wows and can be worn by all of the men's dance styles. The roach is held open with a spreader can be decorated with scalp feathers .

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image