Diplomat and negotiator

Nonhelema spent the last decades of her life working for peace. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, she advised the Shawnee to remain neutral. She sought to establish peaceful relations with neighboring settlers. She warned them of impending attacks and even once disguised two white men as Native people to help them escape.

However, as settlers continued to expand into Shawnee lands, Nonhelema’s pacifist stance drew increasing criticism. Settlers expected to deal with male leaders and often refused to take Native women in positions of authority seriously. This attitude may also have contributed to a shift within Shawnee society itself.

In 1778, Nonhelema was forced to lead two hundred Shawnees in search of new lands. Because she spoke four languages, she served as a guide and interpreter for the French officer Augustin de La Balme.

In 1785, she appealed to the United States Congress, asking for a land grant in Ohio in recognition of her efforts as a mediator between the Shawnee and the Americans and for her service as a guide to the American army. Instead, she was granted only a small pension consisting of daily rations and an annual allowance of clothing and blankets.

The following year, the American army raided Nonhelema’s village. They cut the fingers from her right hand, disabling the famous warrior, and took her captive. She died soon afterward.

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Further reading: 

Klotter James C., Friend Craig Thompson, A New History of Kentucky

McEuen Melissa A., Appleton Thomas H., Kentucky Women : Their Lives and Times

^ Natasha Ashley Brokeshoulder

“Natasha Ashley Brokeshoulder, for instance, who is Diné, wore a wing dress created by her father-in-law, while her breastplate was assembled by her husband. “I got the right to wear the regalia that I have from my husband, who is Absentee Shawnee from the Southern Plains,” she said, adding that it is respectful to gain permission from other tribes to wear their specific styles of garment.”

^ James Budday

^ Sharon Brokeshoulder

^ Zeke Arjeanas

‘Others chose a more historical approach to fashion. Zeke Arjeanas, who is also Diné and won first place in the men’s category, referenced the Long Walk of the Navajo (the 1860s deportation of this indigenous tribe from their native land) for his traditional Clothing Contest outfit. “What I’m wearing is a blanket—not a Navajo blanket, but an army-issued blanket that was issued to the Navajos [at that time],” he said. “With the army-issued blanket, it’s a lot thicker and scratchier versus a Navajo textile blanket, which was more fine, lightweight, and waterproof.”’

^ Two looks from Korina Emmerich with jewelry by Tania Larsson

“...the new collection of the New York–based designer Korina Emmerich (Puyallup), whose asymmetrical vests and graphic wool coats offered a modern interpretation of her tribe’s punchy aesthetic. She also used Gwich’in-inspired jewelry by Larsson, mentioned above, in the show. “What I admire in Korina’s work is her modern, impeccable cuts,” Larsson said. “There is a traditional element that is inherent within my work because of the materials that I use and through the process that they are acquired, such as trade and through community exchanges.””

^ Phillip Bread in a Matthew Charley squash blossom necklace