Pattern, Ribbon Shirt

Missouri River Brand Pattern

The Ribbon Shirt was, and still is, the Classic “Indian Shirt” in cloth and is worn by Fancy Dancers, Straight Dancers, Traditional Dancers, Gourd Dancers, and occasionally by Traditional Dancers, Singers, and the MC. Many times even spectators will wear a ribbon shirt to the dance. Originally, the cloth shirt was worn by Indians east of the Mississippi, who modified the basic Anglo dress shirt with the addition of decorations and slight change in its construction. Appearing sometime in the mid-19th Century, and spreading northward up the Mississippi Valley and southward and westward with the Indian migrations into Oklahoma, it was, and still is, a very popular style with many different tribes throughout the country. It is appropriate for wear with a number of different types of dance outfits, as well as with street clothes.