Nathallie Chavez Lynn Raymond Short Research March 11, 2014

Native American Clothing

Native Americans are known to be the most resourceful people in all of history. Resourceful in the sense of putting their creativity to good use, with their surroundings alone they came up with multiple, astonishing, items. Their life style was most certainty not easy, they were hard workers, and never wasteful. One of the most thought provoking aspects of Native Americans was their clothing. My research was focused on what they wore prior to European settlement, how they made their clothes, and how its influenced our modern world. Native Americans were rich in culture and tradition, they were true artists, and still are. Theyre most known for their appearance; you can look at a picture and identify a Native American instantly. They were unique in clothing; simple, yet detailed, and meaningful in everything. Women garments for Indians mainly consisted of deer or buffalo skin that was used for food. They would go through a process of tanning the skin (leaving it out in the sun), so it would turn into leather (Wissler 70). Men typically didnt wear shirts; they wore a breeclothe, a piece of cloth (also from deer or buffalo skin) that covered their front and back side. When men did cover their chest, in the winter, they wore very thick skin, poncho style (Wissler 51). Both men and women spent a lot of

their time barefoot, but when winter came they wore moccasins (low tailored shoes). They almost look like sacks with a hole to put your foot in (Wissler 105-110). Women took care of making the articles of clothes, and the process of making the clothes was lengthy. After the killing, the first step was obviously, the removal of the skin from the animal. Indians would normally hide skin their animals. That is, they would cut around the ankles of the animal and straight across the insides of the legs to where, if a tail were present, they would cut along the underside of the vertebrae ("Skinnin' 'n Tannin' the Indian Way). The second step was removal of fat, flesh and membrane from the skin. Which is pretty selfexplanatory, with a sharp tool they would remove the excess fat, and skin. Next, they would dry the skin, usually just by letting it sit under the sun until it was stiff. The fourth step was braining the skin, which is also self-explanatory; they would put the skin in the animals brain matter. This step was used so the skin would be soft later on. Next, they would stretch the skin until it was completely dry, they would sometimes use sticks or rocks to help extend the skin. The last step, was smoking the skin, which was also for softer skin ("Skinnin' 'n Tannin' the Indian Way). Their hard work was not ever in vain, women could wear the same dress for years. Native Americans didnt take their clothing lightly. Although their styles are seemingly plain, they were actually very detailed. Certain symbols on a dress referred to the woman's tribe, her marital status, and, for example, the prowess of her husband or father as a hunter or trader. Since elk have at most two eyeteeth, a dress adorned with dozens or even hundreds of elk eyeteeth signaled that the men in the family were skilled hunters (Overview of Native American Clothing).

The Indians were never wasteful, they valued life, nature, and all of their recourses. They used every part of the animal. What they didnt use as clothing, they used to help put the clothing together. And what they used as thread was animal sinew, which is made from an animals ligaments and tendons. The tendons of large animals such as elk, deer, and sheep were used. This is a material that can be broken up into separate thin fibers which are hard and stiff, but become supple when wet. Sinew also gets larger when wet, and shrinks when dry. Women sewing clothing would keep a supply of sinew in their mouth to wet it (Cordage Materials). When the Europeans made it to the new world they introduced weaving to the Indians. This was a huge influence on them, they learned the process of dying cotton with plants. The Native Americans were already skilled in in cordage (string or thread) the introduction of weaving and dying was a big step for them. They kept some of their jewelry, and regular clothes, and gave it some color with the thread (Anderson).

Today there are more than half a million Natives Americans in the United States ("American Indians Today). Through the decades a lot have abandoned their ancestors way of life, they completely follow the white style of living. Others have become modern American Indians but still practice the tradition. Few, have reserves where they do their best to keep their old ways alive. Even though they try to keep everything fairly similar, their clothes still took a turn, they dont walk around in breeclothes, and barefoot. In fact, Native Americans clothing is so rare, that they have them preserved in museums (Danowitz).

Work Cited
"American Indians Today." American Indians Today. N.p., 2000. Web. 11 Mar. 2014

"Cordage Materials ~ Sinew." Cordage Materials ~ Sinew. Education Recourse Center, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

Danowitz, Erica S. "Native American Resources." Native American Resources. College and Research Libraries News, Sept. 2010. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

"Overview of Native American Clothing." Overview of Native American Clothing. Native American Art, 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

"Skinnin' 'n Tannin' the Indian Way." HubPages. HubPages, 20 Dec. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

William, Anderson. "Cultural Impacts: Native Americans in America and Europeans Among the Cherokee." Welcome to the North Carolina Humanities Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

Wissler, Clark. Costumes of the Plains Indians Together with Structural Basis to the Decoration of Costumes among the Plains Indians. New York: AMS, 1975. Print.