Whittier Middle School students sew their own ribbon skirts during Oceti Sakowin class

A group of students in Ann Robertson’s Oceti Sakowin Owaunspe class at Whittier Middle School spent their afternoons Thursday and Friday sewing themselves new ribbon skirts.

For many of the students, it’s their first ribbon skirt. Robertson said she found out only two or three of her students had traditional ribbon skirts when they were planning for a recent Culture Day, and an upcoming honoring ceremony for Indigenous eighth graders and graduating high school seniors.

More: Indigenous seniors celebrate major rite of passage: high school graduation

Robertson said the skirts are culturally-appropriate and can be worn anytime or for anything important, from traditional ceremonies to testifying in Congress, for example. The skirts can also be resized as needed as the girls grow up, Robertson said.

Ribbon skirts like those made by the middle-schoolers were highlighted in the news most recently when Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland wore a traditional ribbon skirt for her swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The Lakota Times reports silk ribbons were brought to what is now the U.S. when European colonizers traded them with multiple Indigenous tribes, inspiring a new, uniquely Native American art form dating back more than 400 years. Ribbon skirts remain a symbol of womanhood in Native communities and tell a story of adaptation and survival, according to the publication.

Kayden Ducheneaux, 14, said she liked making her ribbon skirt, because it allowed her to get back to her culture as a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She’s excited to wear her floral skirt as a birthday surprise for her grandmother to show her how she learned to sew.

Ducheneaux said the red ribbons on her skirt relate to love and cherishment, and the white ribbons are a reminder of looking out for others and keeping together.

RayLynn Lucei-Spino, 14, an eighth grader at Whittier Middle School and a member of the Warm Springs tribe in Oregon, said she will wear her skirt with her favorite colors for the eighth grade ceremony at the end of the year set for May 15th in the Washington Pavilion.

Daphne Boneshirt, 14, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said she chose her skirt’s colors, because they represent the protection of one’s body and the protection of people who are dear to her. She looks forward to wearing the skirt on field trips and the school’s Culture Day.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Oceti Sakowin class at Whittier Middle School learn to make traditional ribbon skirts