Full Answer
What materials did Native Americans use to make clothes?
Native Americans made their garments from animal skins and fur, bark of trees and other materials which they gained hunting and gathering. They used sinew as threads, made jewelry from wood, shells and stones, embellished clothes with beads and patterns on fabric.
How did Native Americans make beadwork?
Then, Native American beadwork continued when the people used stone tools or abrasive sand to shape other materials and drill holes through them. Semi-precious stones like turquoise and jasper were quite popular, especially in the southwestern section of the country.
What is American Indian beading?
Most people understand American Indian beading as something that includes either stringing beads on threads to make jewelry or stitching beads directly onto a material backing. Some of the most impressive Native American techniques create large, flexible sheets or strips of beads tightly arranged in patterns or pictures.
Why did Native Americans wear wampum beads?
Wampum, or shell beads threaded on a cord, were frequently used by both settlers and indigenous people until it became so commonplace that its value plummeted. Native American beaded patterns became a symbol of wealth, were used in marriage ceremonies, trade agreements, and treaties.
What did Native Americans use to make ropes?
What is cordage made of?
How to gather nettle?
How to make rope from fibers?
How to harvest basswood bark?
What do Native Americans use dogbane for?
Once the cordage is made, Native Americans used it to make everything from nets and fishing poles to bags and shoes. Join me below to see how it’s done.
What was rope made of before plastic?
Remember in the old days before rope was made out of plastic? Back then (and sometimes even now), it was made from sisal. Sisal, Agave sisalana, is a type of agave. I saw it growing in Kenya during my visit. It’s still used there to make rope.
How to tell what is the difference between a yucca and a whipplei?
When they are flowering, it’s easy to tell what’s what, because H. whipplei has a tall stalk with flowers on top, and Mojave yucca flowers are on such a short stalk that they appear adjacent to the leaves. But the leaves are actually quite different.
Can yucca be used for soap?
Both produce edible stalks and flowers, and the roots of the Mojave yucca can be used for soap. And, of course, both can be used for fiber. It is hard to tell the difference between H. whipplei and Mojave yucca.
What did Native Americans wear?
Men usually wore a breechclout or breechcloth (a long rectangular piece of cloth or hide worn with a belt) and leggings, fur trousers or short kilt. Sometimes they used shirts. Leather shoes called "moccasins" or boots called "mukluks" complemented the costume.
What did the Hopi tribe do to make cloth?
They grew cotton and wove cloth from it. The tribe Hopi did so. Other tribes (like Haida and Tsimshian) wove cloth from mountain-sheep wool and mountain-goat hair. The tribe Cherokee could weave cloth from mulberry bark.
What did men wear in summer?
Both men and women used breechcloths. Men wore only this piece in summer, and added leggings during colder seasons. Sometimes a breechclout was worn with a decorated apron on top. Women rarely used a breechcloth. Mostly young girls did. Some women sometimes wore it beneath a dress.
What tribes used fur parkas?
Fur parkas were used by such tribes as Yupik, Inuit and other tribes who lived in regions with severe weather conditions. In Alaska people often used 1 or 2 inner parkas to survive in winter. Women's parkas were large and with elongated hoods, they were designed to let a woman carry her baby or infant next to her body.
What is a breechcloth?
It is a rectangular piece of cloth or skin worn around the hips. Breechclout was the most widespread part of Native American traditional costume. The usual size of it was about 50 inches long and 8-10 inches wide. It could be made from bark fiber, buckskin, skins of deer, beaver, raccoon, rabbit, buffalo etc. A breechcloth was fixed on the waist or hips with a help of a belt or throng.
What is the process of making a hide into clothing?
Before a hide turned into clothing it had to undergo several important processes: removing from the animal, de-hairing, scraping, smoking, softening, stretching, dyeing, and decorating. When the leather was soft enough to make a garment, it was cut to the needed shape and sewn with sinew.
What is a war shirt?
It is a ceremonial tunic worn for ceremonies and rituals. Very seldom such shirts were worn for war purposes. War shirt was always very festive and embellished, decorated with beadwork, pictures on fabric (or leather), fringes, feathers, human scalps and other decorative elements. As war shirts weren't used for battles, though the shirt itself showed the courage of the warrior. The pictures reflected moments of a battle, scalps showed the number of killed enemies etc. Only the bravest warriors were granted the honor of wearing a war shirt for a ceremony. Native American Indians believed that such garments protected their wearer and gave him more strength and bravery.
Why did the Ancestral Pueblo use native plants?
A variety of native plants were used by the Ancestral Pueblo people to help survive in this arid landscape.
What are the sharp tips on yucca?
If you've ever accidentally backed into a yucca plant you know a sharp, hard point tips each leaf. These sharp leaf ends could be used as needles for sewing when combined with the fibrous threads from the leaves. The soft, fleshy fruit of the yucca was a staple of Ancestral Pueblo diet.
What are the uses of yucca leaves?
Contact Us. Ancestral Pueblo Native Plant Use. Yucca leaves are very fibrous and provide the material to make rope, baskets, and sandals. Photo by Sally King. Although Ancestral Pueblo people were not totally reliant upon gathering like their predecessors, the Paleo-Indians, they still depended upon native plants to supplement their diet ...
Do pears have thorns?
Prickly pears are a good source of food but all parts , except the blossoms, are covered with fine thorns.
How do Native Americans use beads?
This Native American beadwork method works almost the same as the overlay stitching above, except the artist works in short lengths of beads and affixes them to the fabric only at the ends. This was frequently used for large patterns such as on moccasins or cradles that had large areas of one color. For example, to fill the yoke of a dress, the craftswoman would repeatedly stitch rows of six to eight beads in tight, neat lines until they got to the next color. Different Native American tribes used different numbers of beads. The Sioux, for one, used eight or nine in each small row.
What were the Native American crafts?
One of the most common arts and crafts practiced by multiple Native American tribes included the decorative use of beads of various types . Generations before Europeans landed on the shores of the new world, Native American beadwork used primarily stone, shell, quills, and bone carved patiently with non-metal tools. As the decades went by and new materials like metal and glass were introduced by the new people arriving on the shores, the beadwork patterns used on clothing, jewelry, and decorations became much more intricate and stylized.
What is applique used for?
When it comes to Native American beadwork techniques, beaded applique was used in much the same way. Instead of using overlaid or lane stitching to attach decorative patterns of beads directly to the fabric or leather, the artist created the design on another, a smaller piece that was then sewn onto the final form.
What is beading in Native American culture?
Most people understand beading as either something that includes stringing beads on threads to make necklaces or similar pieces or stitching beads directly onto a material backing. While both of these methods were used in Native American beadwork, they also have their one unique techniques that were worked in different ways than expected. Some of the most impressive create large, flexible sheets or strips of beads tightly arranged in patterns or pictures.
How to make Native American stitching?
Thread a short stretch of beads on a needle, then push them down to the knot at the end. Use the same needle and thread to weave back through the opposite side hole on each bead until they line up like bricks. Complete each row before moving on to the one next to it. The separate rows are woven together by passing the thread through the end loop that feeds out of each hole. This Native American stitching can create any type of pattern or picture dreamed up, including on jewelry.
How do Native American bead looms work?
Although commercial beading looms exist today at any craft store, original Native American looms either used the beader's own body or wood bent similar to a bow to form the frame. Like weaving threads or yarn, the bead loom has warp string separated with a small divider on each end. Another thread or sinew forms the weft that is threaded on a needle. The artist puts the correct pattern of beads onto the needle, slides it down to the warp string, positions each bead between the warp, and then pushes the weft back through the beads on the opposite side to hold them in place.
How to use seed beads?
Using tiny glass seed beads, you fill your thread with the beads to go around the pattern once, then add more as you slip the thread through the first beads in turn. This creates a type of net without spaces between it, but it's only made possible with the seed beads. Today, this Native American stitching is used extensively to make keychains, jewelry, necklaces, and similarly small accessories.
What are the most obvious items taken and used?
Start From the Outside In. The most obvious items taken and used were the skins or hides. In cold months these could be frozen and tanned later; otherwise, they were quickly skinned and tanned for clothing, shoes, blankets, teepee covers, you name it.
What were the uses of tendons and sinew?
Tendons and sinew were used to make thread, strings for bows and ties for arrows. When rendered, sinew made excellent stitches for wounds.
What were bone slivers used for?
Even bone slivers were valuable, as they were used for making needles to sew clothing, bags, quivers and moccasins together using sinew or tendons for “thread.”. Bones from other animals, such as hawks or eagles, were too hollow and weak for other purposes, but they made excellent whistles.
What animals were used as bowls?
Native people often used it as a bowl. Even animals that appeared to have no “hide” to use, such as birds or porcupines, were still found to have a use. The quills of porcupines were saved and flattened to make decorations. Bird feathers could be used as decoration, to add balance to arrows, and to stuff pillows or line moccasins for extra insulation.
What was the skin on the head of a buffalo used for?
Rawhide (the hair removed) was even more versatile as it could be used for making belts, snowshoes, moccasin soles, water troughs for horses or hide tanning, quivers, shields, buckets, drums and even rafts! The skin on the head of male buffalos was extremely hard. Native people often used it as a bowl.
What was the lungs used for?
The lungs were often cut into pieces and dried. They would later be used in soups or stews. Blood was also used for stews or as paint. Even teeth were used for decorations. Image source: Wikipedia. Fat was often used for cooking, frying, tanning hides and for beauty purposes.
What are turtle shells used for?
Turtle shells were used to make rattles, pots, bowls, calendars and bags.
What did Native Americans use to make ropes?
Once fibers and plant materials were finally prepared, Native Americans in southern New England used the threads and cords to make ropes and lines, nets, mats, baskets and bags, belts and straps, shoes and many other items.
What is cordage made of?
The basic methods of this ancient technology have remained relatively unchanged. Cordage is made from two or more strips of fibers that are twisted or plied together. In the Eastern Forests of North America, Native Americans left the impressions of cord wrapped paddles and netting marks on their pottery 3000 years ago. The dry desert cave environments of the western coast of North America still preserve sandals and other textiles of cordage hand-twisted thousands of years ago.
How to gather nettle?
Many woody field plants such as dogbane, nettle, and velvet leaf are best gathered for their fiber after the first frost when the stalks are brittle. After the frost, the fibers strip away more easily than when the plants are 'green'. Pounding the stalk can help loosen the 'chaff' and ease the removal of the desired inner fibers. Simply crack back the top piece of the stalk, and peal the stringy fibers back away from the woody part of the stalk. Look for colonies of the red brown 4 ft. stalks of dogbane in moist, shady field edges. Some plants such as milkweed, cattails and sweetflag should be gathered in late summer before the frost, which breaks down and disintegrates the fibers in these plants.
How to make rope from fibers?
Methods for making rope or heavy cord from fibers involve anchoring two lengths of fibers to a post or to your toes, and tightly twisting each length in turn to the right. Then the right-most twisted length is passed over the left length (ie you switch the lengths between your two hands). The process is repeated, twisting the individual lengths, and then crossing the lengths over each other, splicing in new lengths of fiber to get the desired length. Look at Hilary Stewart's (1984) book Cedar for an excellent description of traditional rope making by Native American women of the Northwest coast.
How to harvest basswood bark?
Speck (1976) describes the process wherein the Penobscot of northern New England prepared inner basswood bark. First the outer bark is cut through with an ax, loosened at the cut and pulled off upwards in long ribbons. Next, the exposed inner bark is separated with a knife, grasped, and pealed off in long strips. The ribbons of inner bark are coiled up for storage. When the bark is needed it first must be boiled for a day and a half in water with wood ashes. The lye from the ashes relaxes the bark fiber and removes the sap which would make the bark brittle and stiff. The boiled strips of bark are shaved down with a knife to their desired width. Without great care harvesting inner bark will threaten the life of the tree. Fallen branches can be a good source for basswood inner bark. Fairly suitable cedar bark can be gathered from fallen trunks.