American Indian Clothing & Moccasins

The impressive variety of clothing that comes out of the American Indian tradition adds to our shared understanding of North American history. Featuring innovative design complemented with elaborate beadwork and quillwork decoration, American Indian clothing and moccasins best showcase this variety and date back to their culture’s earliest eras.

American Indian clothing began by following simple patterns that could be adapted from the natural dimensions of an animals hide. Early women’s dresses, for example, were derived from a hide that was basically folded in half to create an almost A-line silhouette. A similar simplicity underwrote the development of the moccasin, also conjured from animal skins, which wrapped around the foot, offering protection from outdoor elements while also being adequately lightweight to allow the wearer to run (if necessary).

While these styles were simple in nature, there decoration was anything but: elaborate beadwork often adorned war shirts, dresses and moccasins. Some of this rich beadwork was pure decoration, but in other instances these designs served as a reflection of the wearer. Accordingly, collecting these artifacts today gives insight into American Indian culture, both from the universal and the personal level.

Quick Facts

• The word “moccasin” is derived from various American Indian tongues; the Ojibwa equivalent, “makizin,” and the Algonquin “makasin,” for example, are the root of “moccasin” and both translate roughly to “shoe”
• The record sale price for a bead-embroidered war shirt was set in May 2011 at a Sotheby’s auction. Once the property of Black Bird, a noted chief of the Sioux tribe, the Oglala Sioux Beaded and Fringed Hide War Shirt sold for $2,658,500
• Just as different figures within a tribe might port different decorative designs, clothing styles and motifs differed between tribal groups