Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Darren Bonaparte and Michael Galban

From Indian Time supplement The Rontinonshonni-People of the Longhouse

1500s & 1600s

Before European contact, Mohawk clothi8ng was made of animal hides like deer, moose, and caribou as well as fur bearing animals like beaver, muskrat, raccoon and otter. The hides were tanned with the brains of the animal and smoked. Decoration was done with embroidery using moose hair, deer hair, or porcupine quills dyed in bright colors. Sometimes people painted designs on their clothing using natural earth pigments. Wampum beads and pendants cut from whelk and quahog shells as well as whole shells like the marginella were sometimes sewn onto garments to create beautiful contrasting patterns. The amount of clothing, of course, depended on the time of year.

Below the waist, men and women wore soft leather moccasins and leggings fitted nicely to the shape of the leg and coming up to the middle of the thigh. French explorer Jacques Cartier collected a pair of embroidered moccasins during one of his visits to the St. Lawrence River valley in the early 1500s. Men wore breechcloths which is a long strip of narrow leather that went between the man’s legs with the ends going under and over a belt or sash tied around the waist. They were designed to fall halfway down the thigh and cut to cover mid-thigh to mid-thigh. Women wore wrap skirts made of leather that were also decorated.

Robes of animal fur and even netted blankets of bird feathers were worn anciently by both men and women. Large animals like bear, deer, elk, and caribou wore worn singly, but smaller animals like beaver, muskrat, raccoon and even chipmunks were cut into squares and sewn into rectangular robes which were often painted on the leather sides. They were worn with one shoulder exposed and held to the body be the other hand or draped over both shoulders and sometimes belted at the waist. Woven fur robes of rabbit hide were also worn. These were made of twisted fur and woven into a net. These garments were lightweight and breathable-perfect for the cold winter nights.

Above the waist, men and women probably wore tunic-like shirts made from deerskin. It is also possible that an entire animal hide was draped over with an opening for their head to fit through like a poncho. They may have been stitched at the sides with sleeves that may or may not have been attached to the shirt at the shoulder. Any fringe edging on these early garments was very short, nothing longer than a finger’s width. Early European eyewitnesses left little information on clothing details of this early period. However, one thing that did get mentioned is that our men wore slatted wooden armor that might have been protection enough from war clubs but were no match for firearms.

Ornamentation like necklaces, bracelets and headbands – woven in shell beads like quahog, whelk and marginella – were common for both men and women. Women wore their hair long and plaited down the back. It was wrapped in beautiful shiny eel skins. Bone combs with three or five teeth and simple bird and animal forms were worn by women tucked into the top of their queue. Red stone, shell, and slate gorgets were common for men to be worn at the neck. Flint knives hafted in wood handles were suspended around the neck as well.

Once native people became involved in the fur trade, European fabrics such as wool, cotton and linen became available. Wool which is much easier to dry out than leather soon became the material of choice for leggings, breech clouts, skirts and wrap-around shawls and blankets. I essence, the old style of dress was retained but with a new material to work in. Linen shirts that colonists wore were also popular with both males and females, as were hats and other items, but shoes and britches or pants did not catch on right away./ This resulted in a hybrid clothing style that reflected both cultures, European and Native, that persisted for centuries. Even colonial fur traders began to dress this way.