Commanding Posture

Last summer, following the series of unprovoked raids on Cheyenne villages by Colorado volunteer troops, Aénohé'ke [pronounced: Aahnúk] participated in what white officials call „depredations“ along the overland route to Denver, Colorado. The war parties she joined attacked not just ranches but also stage coaches. They didn’t catch all of those but among those they did catch was one which transported a couple of vé’ho’e Ladies who were on route to their new job as members of a dance troupe in Denver (I know, furnishing some evidence of that episode might be of historical interest to some friends, stay tuned). I’m not sure if these Ladies were really dancers or rather Soiled Doves. At any rate, they had several trunks of rather unusual work clothes on board which fell into the hands of the war party.

The underwear, corsets, skirts and dresses were dismissed as being only good as raw materials. The silk stockings failed to score either as they were too flimsy to work as leggings. Short Ladies’s vests and jackets managed to convince though. However, high heeled footwear made quite an impression. This has not been without consequences on the wardrobes of Aénohé'ke and some of her fellow woman warriors. Somehow it also seems to have rubbed off on her general attitude…