Sioux Moccasin. (From Original in Peabody Museum.)
[Illustration.]
Sioux Moccasin. (From Original in Peabody Museum.)
The moccasin is a real Indian invention, and it bears an Indian name. It
is the most comfortable foot-wear that could be devised for the Indian
mode of life. It is made of buckskin and closely fits the foot. Moccasins
usually reach only to the ankle, and are tied close with little thongs of
buckskin. They have no heels, and no part is stiff or unpleasant to the
foot. The exact shape of the moccasin and its decoration varies with the
tribe.
In some tribes there is much difference between the moccasins of men and
those of women. Among the Sacs and Foxes the woman’s moccasin has two side
flaps which turn down and nearly reach the ground; these, as well as the
part over the foot, are covered with a mass of beading; the man’s moccasin
has smaller side flaps, and the only beading upon it is a narrow band
running lengthwise along the middle part above the foot.
The women of the Pueblos are not content with simple moccasins, but wrap
the leg with strips of buckskin. This wrapping covers the leg from the
ankles to the knees and is heavy and thick, as the strips are wound time
after time around the leg. At first, this wrapping looks awkward and ugly
to a stranger, but he soon becomes accustomed to it.
[Illustration.]
Omaha Moccasin. (From Original in Peabody Museum.)
[Illustration.]
Iroquois Moccasin. (From Original in Peabody Museum.)
[Illustration.]
Kutchin Moccasin. (From Original in Peabody Museum.)
Not many of the tribes were real weavers. Handsome cotton blankets and
kilts were woven by the Moki and other Pueblo Indians. Such are still made
by these tribes for their religious ceremonies and dances. Nowadays these
tribes have flocks of sheep and know how to weave good woollen blankets.
Some of the Pueblos also weave long, handsome belts, in pretty patterns of
bright colors. Their rude loom consists of just a few sticks, but it
serves its purpose well, and the blankets and belts are firm and close.
[Illustration.]
A Pueblo Woman. (From Morgan.)
The Navajo, who are neighbors of the Pueblos, learned how to weave from
them, but are to-day much better weavers than their teachers. Every one
knows the Navajo blankets, with their bright colors, pretty designs, and
texture so close as to shed water.
Some tribes of British Columbia weave soft capes or cloaks of cedar bark,
and in Alaska the Chilcat Indians weave beautiful blankets of
mountain-sheep wool and mountain-goat hair. These are a mass of odd,
strikingly colored, and crowdedly arranged symbolic devices.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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