This lot accompanied by a photograph of a Sarsi woman wearing the dress. The image is provided by the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Tsuu T-Ina, or Sarsi, as they are referred to in the literature, are a small tribe that aligned themselves with the Blackfoot Nation prior to the 1700's. Never a very large tribe, their numbers fluctuated from 800 in 1836 to 255 at the signing of Treaty Seven with the Canadian Government in 1877. As a result Sarsi material is rare and often misidentified as Blackfoot or Stoney (Canadian Assiniboine). In the case of the dress offered here, a photo of the dress insitu as well as strong Sarsi design elements in the dress yoke, give us a strong identification as Sarsi.