Arya Mettier (age 7) tells us about wearing her buckskin dress

Arya Metter (age 7) in her buckskin dress (2013).

I wear this dress for dances. I feel happiness when I wear this dress because people made it and it took forever and because it is pretty. When I wear this dress I think about being happy. This dress is for dances like brush dances. At a brush dance you walk around and sing. And you dance by standing tall and going up and down on your feet.

I also wore this dress at school. I walked around to show my friends the dress and how to make it and what Indians do. In this picture I am happy and excited. When I dance in front of everyone I am having fun. Being a Hupa person means you dance. When mommy was little she wore this dress to dance and that makes me happy.

I really like this dress. It has pine nuts, abalone, and bear grass. I know people who make bear grass braids, like my mommy and my aunties. Someday I will make them too. 

---

---

Arya Mettier (Hupa, Karuk, Yurok) is enrolled in the Hoopa Valley Tribe. She is starting the second grade and likes to swim.