Traditional Native American Clothing
With so many Native American tribes inhabiting North America, it is but natural that each tribe will have its own traditional clothing. While Native Americans wore clothes in the ancient times to protect themselves from the elements, they also served as a way of identifying the person's tribe. This is because each tribe's clothing, ornaments and headgear was distinctive and unique. This may sound strange, but it is a lot like the traditional costumes of different countries that people use today to identify a particular country. |
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The clothing of the Native American tribes was very closely associated with their environment and religious beliefs. Depending upon the geographic location of the tribe the clothing was adapted. For instance, the tribes living in cold regions used fur and other articles of clothing, such as hooded jackets, warm trousers and mittens, which could keep them warm. On the other hand, in the warm regions, the Native American tribes wore minimal clothing. In California, typically the women wore knee length skits, while the men did not wear clothing. In the Great Plains, the men wore loincloth, leggings and tunics, while the women wore dresses and skirts.
Before the European settlers came to the New World, the Native Americans were hunters and gatherers. This meant that they used leather and fur quite a bit not just to make clothes, but also to make shoes and line their homes with it. In addition, they also use plant fibers to make their clothes. They would strip the fibers from the plant, dry it and then weave it into some type of clothing. With the help of plant fibers, the Native American tribes made items, such as shirts, aprons, hats, and capes. The Cherokee tribe was known to use the bark of the mulberry tree to make shirts; while the Pomo tribe used the bark of the redwood tree to make skirts.
It may come as a surprise for people to learn that Native American tribes were weaving textile long before the European settlers came. They would weave wool, yucca, feathers and hair into cloth and make loincloth, leggings and skirts from them. However, the traditional way of weaving clothing was abandoned after the European settlers came and the Native American tribes started changing their way they dressed. As the Native Americans began to be pushed into reservations, they lost access to hunt and gather natural materials to make cloth, and this forced them to make purchases of clothing from the nearby setters' villages. Unfortunately, this altered the way the Native Americans dressed.
More Articles :
Fashion Encyclopedia: Clothing of Native American Cultures
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/
Early-Cultures-Native-American/Clothing-of-Native-American-Cultures.html
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During the pre-Columbian era, most Native Americans were semi-nomadic and besides cultivating crops, they also hunted animals and gathered fruits and vegetables in the wild to survive. The ones that lived along the coast used to also fish. 