House 43 Digest Online

Southeast Native American clothing

I studied the southeast Native Americans and how they lived 500 years ago. I studied what they wore when it was warm and when it was cold. I also studied how they prepared their clothing, how they decorated themselves, and how they did their hair. Most of the information that you will read is about the Cherokee tribe and the Shawnee tribe. In the next few pages I will explain what Native Americans wore 500 years ago.

In the warm months Native Americans wore all kinds of different clothing that NYC people do not wear today. For example children under eight wore nothing. Men and older boys wore deerskin shirts and breechcloths. A breechcloth is a band of deerskin that they hang from a belt on your waist. Women and older girls wore deerskin wrap around skirts. They wore the skirts with nothing for a top. These are the clothes that Native Americans from the southeast wore in the warm months.

Southeast Native Americans wore clothes that kept them warm in the cold months, just like us, But not in the same style as we do. Men and boys wore animal skins with fur on the inside for warmth. They also wore moccasins and long deerskin leggings. Women and girls wore skirts made from buffalo calfskin with hair on the inside. They also wore deerskin shirts decorated with turkey feathers. This is what men, women, boys and girls from the southeast Native American tribes wore in the cold months.

Southeast Native Americans decorated themselves in many different ways using some materials that we do not use today. Women wore jewelry around their necks, wrists, and ankles. They made their jewelry from shell beads, animal bone, feathers, animal teeth, and stones. Men decorated their hair with different color feathers. Southeast Native Americans decorated themselves with dyed porcupine quills, feathers, shell beads, and more. The fringe on their clothing wasn’t just for decoration it was for if you turn making bugs go away. They made dye for their clothing by using the plants around them. This is how Native Americans from the southeast decorated themselves.

Native Americans from the southeast prepared their clothing in a very different way from what we do. After the flesh had been scraped from the inside of the hide it was soaked in water. Then the hair was removed by scraping with a bone tool. The hide was then washed, stretched and a mixture of deer brains rubbed into it. The hide was again soaked and wrung out by wrapping it around a pole and twisting it with a stick. Then the hide was worked and stretched between the hands and feet, and tied into a frame where it was stretched and softened by rubbing with the end of a wooden stick. Finally the hide was smoked to increase its strength. They used deerskin, elk skin, buffalo hide, and buckskin because that is what they had. They used the fibers of Indian hemp, nettle, and the inner bark of a mulberry to make skirts and cloaks. Along the south Atlantic coast women made clothing from Spanish moss. That is how the Native Americans from the southeast prepared their clothing.

The way Native Americans from the southeast wore their hair is not that different from how we wear our hair today. The southeast Native American women and girl’s hair would be black and straight, and they rarely cut their hair. The Cherokee thought long hair was beautiful. When their hair was long enough they tied it up with a thin band made of animal skin. Boys and men shaved, or plucked their hair with a bone tool so only a small patch was left on top. And this is the way some southeast Native Americans wore their hair.

Now you have learned about what the Native Americans from the southeast wore when it was warm or cold. You have learned about how they prepared their clothing, how they accessorized themselves, and how they wore their hair. I think it’s very interesting that they used a frame to tie the hide in and rub it with a stick because we don’t. It surprised me that they wore feathers for jewelry because I usually see jewelry with hard things used to make it.