Circulating Regalia and Lak？óta Survivance, c. 1900

This essay offers object biographies of two examples of Lak？óta beaded regalia that traveled with Wild West performers to France in 1889 and in 1911, respectively, as exemplars of Gerald Vizenor’s concept of survivance. By examining the production of the objects by women artists within the Lak？óta community and visually analyzing their designs, this article highlights the regalia as an opposition to both settler colonial political suppression and enforced attempts of cultural assimilation. The article stresses that the beadwork’s materiality bears traces of its intended circulation and public display that are enacted when Lak？óta individuals wore the regalia in the context of Wild West performance in France. Both when rooted in the Lak？óta community and when circulating through Wild West shows, the objects evince Lak？óta survivance. When the regalia was acquired by non-Native individuals in France, who projected new meanings onto the objects, the function of the regalia as a public statement of Lak？óta survivance subtly continued to operate through generated revenue for the community and through the visibility of Lak？óta culture through continued circulation. View Full-Tex