This shell dress worn by the daughter of the Oglala Sioux Chief American Horse marked her as a woman of substance in 1908. Dentalia shells—such as those in her dress—were used as currency by Native Americans and early European traders throughout much of the western United States.
(Photograph from "Money From the Sea," January 1993, National Geographic magazine)
(Text adapted from "Money From the Sea," January 1993, National
Geographic magazine)
