mahkisina ‘Moccasins’, 2019
Buckskin, wool and taffeta with glass beads
Miami University Art Museum purchase 2020.1
These moccasins, created by Scott Shoemaker, are inspired by a pair that was collected in the early 1800s at Ft. Michilimackinac and are now in the collection of the Weltkulturenmuseum in Frankfurt, Germany. They have a simple but bold and eye-catching design. Simpler designs such as this one are easier to view from a distance, while smaller and more complex designs can look muddy from far away. Scott Shoemaker has studied ribbonwork objects in museum collections all over the world and is today one of the most advanced ribbonwork artists in the Myaamia community. He has been integral in the process of discovering and teaching how to practice ribbonwork once again.