Rakel+Clothing

In most tribes, the Native American men wore breechcloths, which is a long rectangular piece of cloth tucked over a belt. The flaps would fall down in front and behind. Sometimes they wore leather leggings. In other tribes the men wore fur trousers or a short kilt. Most of the men did not wear shirts, but Plains Indian warriors wore special war shirts of buckskin. They were decorated with ermine tails, hair and beads.

The women wore skirts and leggings, but the length, the design and the material varied from tribe to tribe. Their clothes were made mostly out of leather, buckskin and so on. They were often decorated with beads, and quillwork. Almost all the Native Americans had some sort of moccasin, which is a leather shoe, or mukluk, which is like a heavy boot. In colder weather most tribes used cloaks and some of the northern tribes wore fur parkas instead.

The most variable off all were the headgear and the formal [|clothing]. These were different in almost every tribe. But after the colonization the clothes of the Red Indians started to change. Because of the fact that the Indian tribes were driven from their lands, and forced closer to other tribes, they started to borrow each other’s tribal dresses. The Indians also began to adapt some articles of European costume.

Today, most Native Americans wear ordinary or modern clothes. Some traditional garments are still worn in many tribes, but preferably to formal events. Other garments, like breechcloth, headdresses and leggings are only worn at religious ceremonies or pow-wows. A pow-wow is a meeting, where Native Americans meet to dance and sing and honor the American Indian culture. In a pow-wow there is often a dance competition, with (sometimes) a large money prize. The length of pow-wows varies from 5 to 6 hours to three days.

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