This Native American Life offers an intimate lens into the lives, histories, and traditional regalia of the Wallowa Band Nez Perce, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Karuk tribes of the Columbia Plateau, near what is presently called Pendelton, Oregon.

In 2010, co-authors and sisters Katie, Anna and Mary Harris began re-creating plateau-style, ceremonial buckskin dresses to preserve their tribal heritage. These hand-sewn, intricately beaded dresses, write the sisters, carry “beauty, connection, trauma, and love,” as well as “the souls of the women who lived in them.”

This Native American Life shares, in loving detail, the historical and ceremonial significance of over twenty traditional and contemporary dresses, alongside gorgeous portraits by art and fashion photographer Kyle La Mere, who has documented the sisters’ creative process since 2017.

The book shines a reverent light on tribal life. It explains the significance of ceremonial dances like the jingle, fancy shawl and swan dancing, and provides cultural context for symbols often seen in plateau-style tribal regalia. It subtly illuminates the internal conflict some Native Americans experience when deciding whether to strike out into the world or remain on the reservation to serve the people. The Harris sisters have managed to do both.

This Native American Life serves as both testament and tribute to plateau artistry, the strength of family, and the enduring spirit of Native culture.

This Native American Life: Soul of the Dress

Purchase Now

Purchase Now

Purchase Now

Katie Harris

was gifted her first horse at the age of nine. She is an educator and a gardener, an avid hunter and occasional fisherwoman. She holds two Associates degrees in Science, a BS in Chemistry, and an MS in Healthcare Administration. She won the 2013 Pendleton Woolen Mills Senior American Indian Beauty Pageant, after serving as Happy Canyon Princess in 2010 and Pendleton Round Up Princess in 2012.

Anna Harris

is a multidisciplinary artist and leatherworker pursuing a lifelong path toward becoming a physician. She holds a BA in Biology and, once she’s attained her Doctorate, plans to return to her ancestors’ homelands to serve the community. She won the 2007 Pendleton Woolen Mills Junior American Indian Beauty Pageant and the 2016 Pendleton Woolen Mills Senior American Indian Beauty Pageant, which takes place on horseback.

Mary Harris

is a skilled seamstress and beadworker with a profound love for song and dance. She is a lifelong participant in Pendleton Roundup and in 2015, she followed in her sister’s footsteps as a Happy Canyon Princess, after which she was a frequent finalist in the Pendleton Woolen Mills Beauty Pageant. She holds three Associates degrees and frequently travels the northwest to participate in powwows and ceremonies, and to visit ancestral battlefields.

Purchase Now