Buckskin dress donated to museum

Wesley Dick is a protector of a dying art form.

Dick, a member of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, tans buckskin hides, giving them what he calls the Paiute "golden signature."

He made three authentic buckskin outfits for his 4-year-old daughter, Alyssa. All are sewn by hand and have fringe with beads tied to the soft leather.

Dick has also created many dress accessories: a cradleboard where she carries her stuffed hippopotamus; a fan made with young-female hawk feathers; beaded leg jewelry, belts, moccasins, hair ties and purses with ribbons; and otter ties she places at the end of her braids.

Alyssa's life-size picture, taken a year ago, is part of the American Indian exhibit at the Nevada State Museum, titled "Under One Sky." There is also a picture of her mother, Elizabeth Works, holding her baby brother, William Dick, in a cradleboard Wesley Dick created. He donated the outfit his daughter wore in the picture to the museum Tuesday.

"This [art form] is one of a kind, and we need to keep it alive," Dick said. "You can touch it or see it at the museum. People are still using it. This is proof."

Dick's hides are brain-tanned, soaked in the animal's brain and water.

"It comes out really white," he said. "I use smoke to give it the color and smell. It is hand sewn in the traditional style."

Dick tans elk, antelope and deer hides year-round. He hunts, trades, or skins animals for other hunters to obtain the hides. He said his goal is to tan 300 hides a year, but he typically tans 150 to 200.

"Hide like mine is really hard to find," he said. "Usually it is the elderly people still doing it, but they are all located in other states."

Eugene Hattori, the museum's curator of anthropology, said the public loves Alyssa's picture.

"Kids are always popular with visitors," he said. "Parents are always taking their children's pictures by the cutouts."

The outfit is stained with blue snow cone flavoring and taco grease.

"I said, 'Let's keep that, it captures the essence of Alyssa,'" Hattori said. "Wesley agreed."

Alyssa is a dancer, participating in nearly 20 regional pow wows, parades and other events and has won a few awards. She dances with the Sage Spirit group in Fallon and danced at the opening of the exhibit.

"She is happy to dance, and I know she will continue," Dick said. "Everyone in the family dances."

The exhibit began June 22, 2002, and will end in December 2004.

The topics explored in the project were chosen by about 15 American Indian co-curators. Hattori said they selected subjects they felt were important to share with their own people.

"It is very important that the Native American community can still be represented here," Hattori said. "They are very diverse. Some are traditional, some are progressive, but they all take great pride in their heritage."