On Becoming A Squaw
By: Betsygirl

Part 2

While the tribe continued to live and work as our ancestors had done for many, many moons before, they were not an isolationist and closed community. They did not shun the continuing advances being made in all areas, technology and medicine chief among them, but embraced them openly. The chief and the tribal elders had decided that, despite all of these advances, we would continue to live as our ancestors did. The Great Spirit had been with the tribe then and, despite the technology, was with us even now.

As I had said earlier, the tribe had adopted, when and where necessary, the use of feminine hormones, the continued used of which was evident on my increasingly feminized body. My breasts had become fuller and heavier, my waist had narrowed, my hips and buttocks had become more womanly and my voice was now that of a woman. My buckskin dresses now better fit my emerging feminine form. I truly looked like and felt like one of the women of the tribe. Additionally, despite a few snickered comments by one or two of the women, my sisters had generally accepted me as a woman of the tribe.

One of the beneficiaries of the technology advances that the tribe was always receptive to was the motion picture industry. The ever-expanding film industry regularly used tribal lands to shoot their movies because they still had the pristine appearance of the old west. This resulted in a very nice income for the tribe and gave many of us the chance to be extras in the typical western film. Recently though, a producer wanted to use our tribal lands to shoot an epic about colonial times, say from the early 1600's up to the beginning of the American Revolution. Since this was a fictional work and not a documentary, there was considerable leeway taken. The fictitious colony of Chesapeake was meant to represent primarily the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the colony of Virginia with a sprinkling of events from the other colonies. Events, similar to the first Thanksgiving in the Massachusetts Bay colony and the marriage of Pocahontas in the Virginia colony would be included in this film.

Naturally, the tribe was very excited about the filming and their participation in this epic. The chief and the elders portrayed those that advised and assisted the Pilgrims in getting through the first winter and in celebrating the first Thanksgiving. For the scene of the great feast, the whole tribe participated. The first morning of this scene, the women all took their communal bath in the river as usual and then dressed in their finest satin lingerie and their neatest buckskin dresses. Each did her makeup with extra care. As Pretty Maid, I was expected to do the same as the rest of the women. Little Deer helped me select a particularly lacy and pretty set of white satin lingerie. She told me that it would make me feel more womanly. I would feel pretty on the inside as well as on the outside. One of the other women, Quiet Stream, helped me with my makeup, so that I would look my best.

The costume designer thought that our buckskin dresses looked fine and would be authentic for this scene. However, she felt that we needed to be wearing bead necklaces, to fit the stereotypical image that many people would have in their minds. She had enough necklaces made so that each of the women of the tribe would wear two with their dresses. When I put mine around my neck, I could not get them to lie properly around my hormone-enhanced breasts. Finally, after some giggling over my plight, Pale Moon stepped forward and showed me how to make my beads lay correctly against my breasts. I smiled my thanks at her.

It took four takes before the director was satisfied with this scene. This meant four consecutive days of essentially overeating. The caterers providing the food for the Thanksgiving scenes prepared all manner of tasty and tempting dishes. Some of the women kiddingly warned me that, if I gained any weight, I would need a corset to help keep my womanly figure. Little Deer told me that they had some very lovely satin corsets in the women's supply cabinet if I really wanted to wear one. I smiled and said that I would be careful what I ate during the scene, as I did not want to be laced into a restrictive feminine corset.

I got through that scene and was still able to properly fit into my buckskin dresses. However, I had, as yet, only postponed, but not escaped, the promise of the corset. Another scene that was generating great interest in the tribe was the wedding of the prominent English settler and the Indian princess. The role of the princess was coveted by many of the women of the tribe. The women waited eagerly while the tribal council met and discussed which one of us was to be chosen. Even though I stood waiting with the women, I did not desire this part. My body and my attire said that I was a woman of the tribe but my mind still rebelled at the thought.

After much discussion, the chief stepped from the council room and announced, "The tribal council has decided that the role of the Indian princess shall be filled by Pretty Maid." Needless to say there was a sense of disappointment on the part of all those gathered to hear this pronouncement. I started to open my mouth and protest, saying that I really didn't want this part when Little Deer and Pale Moon suggested that it would be best if I just graciously accepted the decision. I quickly bowed to their superior wisdom.

At the beginning of the scene, I was to be prepared for the wedding by some of the women of the colony. My wedding gown was supposed to have been one that one of the women colonists brought with her from England. In fact, it was a designer gown made especially for the movie. Unfortunately, when I first tried it on, it was a little tighter in certain places than necessary. Some of the women of the tribe still held hope that they would be selected because they could fit into the gown without a problem. After a discussion among the chief, the costume designer and Pale Moon, a solution was put forth that would keep me portraying the Indian princess. This script was soon corrected with a quick rewrite to include the solution to the scene.

The English women would still prepare me for the wedding. I would be undressed down to my bra and panties. Pale Moon had prepared me for this possibility and had tucked my diminished male parts into my body and taped them in place. Since a proper Englishwoman always wore a corset under a gown, I was to be laced into a satin corset. This would also adjust my body proportions so that the gown would fit correctly. The colonial women oohed and aahed over the fine construction of this garment and told me how nice I would look in it. I simply remained silent as they talked.

I had to hold on to a wooden rail in the set while the women fastened the corset around me. As I held on, they started drawing the laces tighter and tighter. They said that I would look more like a proper Englishwoman once I was laced completely into it. I know that I had difficulty breathing once they had narrowed my waist to the required 22 inches. Per the script, one of the women tried to teach me how to breathe while corseted. I quickly took to her instructions.

The next part of my costume was a farthingale, which is a series of hoops extending horizontally from the waist and worn under the skirt. I could not understand how the colonial women survived wearing these hoops. Two satin petticoats were lowered over the farthingale and tied around my waist. The satin wedding gown was next. It had a high neckline, fitted bodice, elbow length sleeves with lace at the edges and the full skirt that covered the petticoats and the farthingale.

When they tried to put the uncomfortable shoes on my feet I refused, following the script, saying I would wear my moccasins. The colonists shook their heads and told me that if I were to be a proper wife to a prominent English settler, I would ultimately have to wear the stylish, though uncomfortable shoes. I said later, not now.

The makeup artist did my makeup while I stood, since sitting in the farthingale was not something I could master quickly. My makeup was more suited for a bride of the current day rather than a bride of colonial times. The hair stylist brushed and sprayed my hair so that it would not move under any circumstances. The script called for me to have two of my Indian sisters as my attendants. The tribal council had decided that Pale Moon and Little Deer would fill the roles of my attendants. My two sisters from the tribe placed a ring of fresh flowers on top of my head. "This is to ensure that our sister is fruitful and produces many fine sons," said Pale Moon. Little Deer had to restrain herself to keep from giggling as Pale Moon said this line.

During the scene, I stood next to the actor playing the English settler, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers. Pale Moon and Little Deer stood beside me while we all listened to the typical picture of a colonial minister drone on and on through the wedding service. Naturally, the entire tribe was in attendance during the filming of this scene and was included as extras, witnessing the ceremony.

If luck had been with me, this scene would have been shot complete on one take, lasting an hour our less. However, in actual fact, it took, several hours a day for two weeks to complete this wedding scene. That meant that every day, I had to be laced into the corset, have the farthingale attached and then the petticoats and the gown.

Had this scene been shot during the cooler season, it might have been more bearable. The shooting schedule had this scene occur during the hottest two weeks of the summer. During each break, my tribal sisters would try to cool me off using large hand fans. During one break, I overheard one of the tribe's women say, "If this were an X-rated picture, I could just imagine Pretty Maid as she is taken to the wedding bed. The settler would surely be surprised at what he had discovered." I managed to overlook this comment, especially when both Pale Moon and Little Deer seemed to be upset, for my sake, about this tasteless comment.

Finally, the shooting of the wedding scene was completed and another feast scene was shot, celebrating the wedding. The most difficult part now was having to kiss the actor who portrayed my new husband. I just closed my eyes each time it happened and hoped that it would end quickly. My final scene showed me dressed as a typical Englishwoman, farthingale, petticoats, satin dress and bonnet and all, traveling on board ship with her new husband back to England. I gave a sad, scripted wave to the tribe and to the land that I was leaving, never to see either again.

There was once surprising change that had occurred in the two weeks required to shoot the scene. I found that I liked having my body encased in the satin rigidity of the corset. I did not relish removing either it or the wedding gown at the end of the day. Little Deer and Pale Moon looked at each other and smiled knowingly when I admitted to them that I had grown to love the firmness and the feel of my corset on my body. Once shooting of this scene was over, the costume designer made a gift of the wedding gown and the corset to me. She also wanted me to have the farthingale. However, I politely turned down her offer for that device.

The rest of the movie featured scenes with occasional walk-on roles for several members of the tribe. As I had been featured as the Indian princess bride, I did not need to have any more appearances in the film. The members of the tribe were interested spectators throughout the rest of the filming; offering some suggestions on scenes such as the supposed Indian raid of the English merchant ship that caused untaxed tea to be dumped into the local harbor.

After the shooting of the film was completed, the movie company left our tribal lands. Life returned to the previous levels of normalcy, with a few exceptions. All of my sisters, at on time or another, stopped to get a close look at the wedding gown that I wore in the movie. A few even suggested that it would be a fine gown for me to wear when I chose to marry one of the tribe's warriors. Naturally, I blushed whenever one of my tribal sisters mentioned a possible marriage to one of the men.

The other thing that changed was that I took to wearing corsets every day and enjoying it. The women of the tribe, especially those who had never experienced the feel of a corset, asked me how it felt and if wearing it was comfortable. I answered each of the questions from my sisters about wearing a corset, breathing while wearing one and the comfort of a corset, as best as I could.

Each day, after our communal bath, Little Deer and Pale Moon would help lace me into the corset. My waist was reduced some 8 inches, from its original 30 inches down to the current 22-inch waist that I hid under my buckskin dresses. Despite my initial fears about becoming one of the tribe's women, I found my increasingly feminine form, both from the hormones and from the corset, to be a delight to behold. The feel of my satin lingerie is wonderful. The chief and the tribal elders nodded knowingly each time they saw me become more and more feminine.

It has also caused me to crave wearing a corset, when I am away from the tribe, during my waking hours. Maybe one day, I will be corseted, just like Pretty Maid in my dreams.

 

 

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