A man had to earn the right to wear a shirt like this one on the Great Plains in the 19th century. He might prove himself to be brave in battle, or cunning at raiding horses. But he also had to be thoughtful and wise. His actions helped his community survive.

A woman of the community stitched the beadwork and sewed the shirt. Elders of the community presented the shirt to him in a sacred ceremony. Sometimes they attached long locks of their own hair (or their enemy’s hair) to the shirt, in place of a fringe. The wearer of the shirt literally carried his community with him when he wore it. If he acted dishonorably in the future, the shirt might be taken away.

The man would wear the shirt on special occasions, with leggings, moccasins, and a headdress. The decorations on the shirt might invite a retelling of the stories of his exploits. The history of the tribe would come alive. Just as importantly, those stories offered a model of honorable behavior for the well-being of the people in the future.

Although no two Plains Indian honor shirts are exactly alike, many have features in common. Decorated bands cross the shoulders and run down the arms of most shirts. Fringe hangs across the back and the arms. And many shirts have a decorated “bib” at the neck, like this one does.

These features recall the traditions of an earlier time. Plains Indian men did not typically wear shirts before the 19th century. Instead they wrapped themselves in robes of animal hide, wearing the fur against their skin. The earliest shirts were made by sewing two animal skins together. The front legs of the animals became the shirt’s sleeves. The skin of the rear legs dangled from the bottom of the shirt.

Some people think decorated bands were originally added to cover seams on robes where two pieces of hide joined together. This decoration was used on shirts too, even when there was no seam underneath. The “bib” at the neck of the shirt was skin from the animal’s head. These decorations continued to appear on Plains Indians shirts even when the shirt itself was made of other materials, like the wool of this shirt. Sometimes the decoration from a worn-out shirt was cut off and stitched on a new shirt—which might be the case with this one.

What do the patterns on the decorated bands represent? No one can say with certainty. The blue and white diamonds might be eagle feathers, white with black tips in nature. Eagle feathers were an important part of a warrior’s dress since the eagle was the most sacred animal for Plains Indians. The crossed bars on a white shield may be some symbol of strength. Or these patterns may simply have pleased the artist as she worked, inspired by the shapes she saw in other things around her.

The traditions of a people change as their way of life changes. Life on the Plains brought many changes in the decades before this shirt was made. Some of them can be seen in this shirt.

One example is the beads used to add color and pattern to this shirt. Traditionally women crafted their designs using porcupine quills, colored with natural dyes. Glass beads from Italy and Bohemia, exchanged with European traders for pelts and hides, offered more colors and were easier to work with. By the late 1800s when this shirt was made, quillwork had almost disappeared from Plains Indian shirts. But artists continued to form the traditional patterns in the new material.

The bright red wool of the body of the shirt is another change. As European settlers moved westward throughout the 19th century, Plains Indians were crowded off their traditional territory. Hunting as a way of life became impossible and animal hides grew scarce. Wool cloth became another popular trade item. Lightweight and warm, the wool made a comfortable shirt. Like a shirt made of animal hide, this shirt is not sewn together at the sides. Notice how the white edge of the cloth, where the cloth was held in the factory as it was dyed, has been carefully saved to decorate the bottom edge of the shirt.