Third View - Hide & Paint
The materials used to make this robe are paanssin, or tanned buffalo hide, and isttsikoksspainni, or paint made with a sticky consistency and pigments from the earth. Iini, or buffalo, were incredibly important to communities within the Blackfoot Confederacy and were treated with respect for sacrificing themselves for the wellbeing of the Blackfoot people. For the Siksika Nation, there is a specific 10-meter tall cliff within the Porcupine Hills that has been used as a buffalo jump for over 1,500 years, with bone deposits 10 meters deep (Our Culture).
The paint used on this robe most likely consists of mineral pigments mixed with animal hide scrapings or beaver tails that were boiled into a glue. The pigments on the robe today likely are not made of plants or animals, as those kinds of pigments fade more easily than minerals, however, they may have been present when the robe was first made.