It's no secret that Hollywood has a horrible track record of portraying Native Americans in film and television, and stereotypical depictions of the indigenous people of this continent continue to persist even today.

That legacy of disrespect is why for season four, Outlander's costume designer Terry Dresbach was committed to recreating the clothing of the Cherokee and Mohawk Nations characters as authentically as she could.

“It was daunting. And I knew that we had an obligation to do it right," she told me over the phone. "Hollywood has had a bad history with this, and I wanted to right that. I wanted to do it properly, and I staked that claim from day one with everybody I worked with. I said, 'We’re going to do this right, we’re going to do this as accurately as possible.'"



But that mission proved to be more difficult than she initially thought.

"I started doing my research and just wanted to throw up because there’s just so little information," she admitted.

Dresbach says her team "consulted with everyone we possibly could" and that she spent a year on the research for the Native American costumes this season, which is the most she’d done for anything related to the show. But she was still left with questions.

Over the course of her research she spoke with someone at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, who confirmed that sadly, some details are unknowable.

"She finally just said, 'You know what? The bottom line is that we just don’t know. What little information that there was, was burned to the ground in the libraries during the Civil War.' And I just remember this heart-sinking feeling," Dresbach said.

"There is just so little information because we’re talking about genocide and cultural genocide as well."

Dresbach sees designing these costumes as putting together a puzzle of historical research, albeit one with the final pieces missing.

“At a certain point you almost have to try and inhabit the people and go okay, what’s the temperature? What’s the climate, why would I do this? Where would I be headed? And to try to guess how to fill in those puzzle pieces,” she explained.

"And that’s a terrifying thing to do because I’m a white woman, and I was terrified that I was going to get it wrong."

It's too early to judge the public's collective reaction to her work just yet, but executive producer Matthew B. Roberts is confident in her efforts. "Every department, from production design to costume and hair and make-up, does a huge amount of research to ensure we create a world that feels authentic to the time and place," Roberts said.

And Dresbach says the First Nations actors were pleased by their costumes. (According to executive producer Maril Davis, the team would have liked to use Native American actors from the United States, but it wasn't possible because of Screen Actors' Guild rules. Instead, First Nation performers from Canada are featured in the roles.)

"That is your toughest audience, and that’s who you want to feel that you respected and honored their traditions," she said.

"I think [the costumes] read true—Ron [Moore, Outlander showrunner and Dresbach's husband] always said to me, 'People have to feel like what they’re watching is the truth, and how you get there is not as important.' I think we did that."

Dresbach's season four designs are currently on display at SCAD as part of an ongoing exhibition called "The New World: Outlander Season Four." Or, if you can't make it to Savannah, tune in Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on Starz.

Caroline Hallemann Senior Digital News Editor As the senior digital news editor for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers everything from the British royal family to the latest episodes of Outlander, Killing Eve, and The Crown.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io