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Why were elk teeth used as decorations on some Plains dresses?
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Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains
Dancers at the Totah Festival Powwow performing the Northern Tradition dance, a dance inspired by Plains traditions, on September 1, 2007, in Farmington, New Mexico.
Among the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains, elk eyeteeth were highly valued as decorative elements for women's dresses. Because each elk possesses at most two of these specific teeth, a dress adorned with them served as a conspicuous display of the skill and dedication of the hunters within a woman or girl’s family.1