In her village, women wore clothing with functional lengths, layers and ruffles to keep ticks and other bugs at bay. She imagines the FGCU skirt as something a current student might wear, much like the lightweight ribbon skirt she wears during an interview at the exhibit, which her grandmother made and wore in the 1980s.

She contrasts the comfort and versatility of ribbon skirts to the elaborate ballgown she made especially for the exhibit that celebrates the circus roots of the museum’s founders, John and Mable Ringling. A hoop skirt under the gown holds the floor-length skirt away from the legs, creating a dramatic silhouette.

“Goodness knows what would have crawled up underneath a skirt popped out like that in the village,” says Osceola.

According to her, the gown’s rows of red blocks on a white background are symbolic of the telephone poles along Tamiami Trail that replaced pristine sections of the Everglades but brought a means of communication. Thin strips of bias tape and rickrack trim convey the idea of communication lines. Those lines also symbolize The Ringling, as Osceola pictured the high wires traversed by circus trapeze artists.

She notes that her Everglades village would have been too harsh an environment for such a long dress. “We would never have worn a ballroom gown in the swamp,” she says.

For Osceola, exhibitions like this are important for Indigenous communities and the art world. “Maybe these look like ‘just’ textiles to somebody, which in the art world isn’t often viewed as important, so I’m grateful to FGCU and The Ringling for finding value in this.”

“It’s how we keep going forward with it,” she adds.