The Dene (Athabaskan, also Athapaskans) traditionally invested great artistic effort into decorating in clothing, jewellery, and weapons (see lot 122). Glass beads were introduced to the region either by Russian fur traders or by a indigenous person from Siberia in the 1700s or earlier. The floral design, first introduced to northeastern North America from Europe, was brought west to the Indigenous peoples of the regions through contact with missionaries and trading posts. Representing, undoubtedly, weeks of work for the maker, the total effect of these leggings is one in which artistry and practicality are wonderfully united. The appeal is one of contrasting surfaces: glossy beads against the matte cloth and skin; complementary coloured beads emerging from a deep, black ground, contrasted by the soft tan of the hide.

References: For a discussion on Athabaskan leggings, see James W. VanStone, Athapaskan Clothing and Related Objects in the Collections of Field Museum of Natural History, (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1981), p. 13-4.