Traditional Native American clothing

Last updated

Traditional Native American clothing is the apparel worn by the indigenous peoples of the region that became the United States before the coming of Europeans. Because the terrain, climate and materials available varied widely across the vast region, there was no one style of clothing throughout, [1] but individual ethnic groups or tribes often had distinctive clothing that can be identified with them. The arrival of Europeans introduced new materials, e.g. beads, dyes, silk ribbons and thread, which were incorporated into the clothing. [2]

Contents

Modern Native Americans continue to wear traditional clothing, usually just on special occasions, to honor their cultures and traditions. Native American fashion designers often incorporate motifs or customary materials of traditional clothing in their designs.

Types of clothing

Materials

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beadwork</span> Decoration technique

Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary by the kind of art produced. Most often, beadwork is a form of personal adornment, but it also commonly makes up other artworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweat lodge</span> North American Indigenous structure and ceremony for prayer and healing

A sweat lodge is a low profile hut, typically dome-shaped or oblong, and made with natural materials. The structure is the lodge, and the ceremony performed within the structure may be called by some cultures a purification ceremony or simply a sweat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raincoat</span> Waterproof coat

A raincoat is a waterproof or water-resistant garment worn on the upper body to shield the wearer from rain. The term rain jacket is sometimes used to refer to raincoats with long sleeves that are waist-length. A rain jacket may be combined with a pair of rain pants to make a rainsuit. Rain clothing may also be in one piece, like a boilersuit. Raincoats, like rain ponchos, offer the wearer hands-free protection from the rain and elements; unlike the umbrella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folk costume</span> Expression of identity through clothing, usually associated with a geographic area

A folk costume,(also known as regional costume, national costume, traditional clothing, traditional garment or traditional regalia), expresses a national identity through clothing or costume, which is associated with a specific region and time period in history. Furthermore it can indicate social, marital, or religious status. If the costume is used to represent the culture or identity of a specific ethnic group, it is usually known as an ethnic costume. Folk costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for traditional festivals and formal wear. The word "costume" in this context is sometimes considered pejorative due to the multiple senses of the word, and in such cases "clothing", "garments" or "regalia" can be substituted without offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirndl</span> Traditional dress worn in parts of Alps

A dirndl is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in some Alpine regions of Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. A dirndl consists of a close-fitting bodice with a low neckline, a blouse worn under the bodice, a wide high-waisted skirt and an apron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothing in Africa</span> Traditional clothing and fashion of Africa

African clothing is the traditional clothing worn by the people of Africa.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. This can be especially controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures. When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context – sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture – the practice is often received negatively. Cultural appropriation can include the exploitation of another culture's religious and cultural traditions, customs, dance steps, fashion, symbols, language, history and music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous cuisine of the Americas</span> Food and drink of peoples Indigenous to the Americas

Indigenous cuisine of the Americas includes all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples retain a varied culture of traditional foods, along with the addition of some post-contact foods that have become customary and even iconic of present-day Indigenous American social gatherings. Foods like cornbread, turkey, cranberry, blueberry, hominy, and mush have been adopted into the cuisine of the broader United States population from Native American cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurdish traditional clothing</span> Traditional clothing of the Kurdish people

Kurdish traditional clothing, also known as Kurdish dress, refers to the folk costumes of the Kurdish people. The traditions typically vary across different regions and tribes of Kurdistan, but it has some common elements. Historically, Kurdish clothing was more complex and varied, but it has evolved to a simpler form over time. It is also prominently worn during festivals and special occasions such as Newroz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian cultural outfits</span> Malaysian clothing

Pakaian is the term for clothing in Malaysia's national language. It is referring to things to wear such as shirts, pants, shoes etc. Since Malaysia is a multicultural nation: Malay, Chinese, Indian and hundreds of other indigenous groups of Malay Peninsula and Borneo, each has its own traditional and religious articles of clothing all of which are gender-specific and may be adapted to local influences and conditions. Previously, traditional clothes were worn daily. However, by excluding Baju Melayu, Baju Kurung many are now only worn on special occasions such as marriage ceremonies and cultural events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska Native art</span>

Alaska Native cultures are rich and diverse, and their art forms are representations of their history, skills, tradition, adaptation, and nearly twenty thousand years of continuous life in some of the most remote places on earth. These art forms are largely unseen and unknown outside the state of Alaska, due to distance from the art markets of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian national costume</span>

Croatian national costume, also called as Croatian traditional clothing or Croatian dress, refers to the traditional clothing worn by Croats living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, with smaller communities in Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and Romania. Since today Croats wear Western-style clothing on a daily basis, the national costumes are most often worn with connection to special events and celebrations, mostly at ethnic festivals, religious holidays, weddings, and by dancing groups who dance the traditional Croatian kolo, or circle dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic</span> Grouping of indigenous peoples which inhabit the sub-Arctic region

Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic are the aboriginal peoples who live in the Subarctic regions of the Americas, Asia and Europe, located south of the true Arctic at about 50°N to 70°N latitude. This region includes the interior of Alaska, the Western Subarctic or western Canadian Shield and Mackenzie River drainage area, the Eastern Subarctic or Eastern Canadian Shield, and most of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia and Siberia. Peoples of subarctic Siberia and Greenland are included in the subarctic; however, Greenlandic Inuit are usually classified as Indigenous peoples of the Arctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceremonial pipe</span> Ceremonial smoking pipe, used by Native Americans

A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial commitment, or to seal a covenant or treaty. The pipe ceremony may be a component of a larger ceremony, or held as a sacred ceremony in and of itself. Indigenous peoples of the Americas who use ceremonial pipes have names for them in each culture's Indigenous language. Not all cultures have pipe traditions, and there is no single word for all ceremonial pipes across the hundreds of diverse Native American languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The textile arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas are decorative, utilitarian, ceremonial, or conceptual artworks made from plant, animal, or synthetic fibers by Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican folk dance</span> Folk dance

Folk dance of Mexico, commonly known as baile folklorico or Mexican ballet folk dance, is a term used to collectively describe traditional Mexican folk dances. Ballet folklórico is not just one type of dance; it encompasses each region's traditional dance that has been influenced by their local folklore and has been entwined with ballet characteristics to be made into a theatrical production. Each dance represents a different region in Mexico illustrated through their different zapateado, footwork, having differing stomps or heel toe points, and choreography that imitates animals from their region such as horses, iguanas, and vultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakh clothing</span> Clothing worn by the Kazakh people

Kazakh clothing, worn by the Kazakh people, is often made of materials suited to the region's extreme climate and the people's nomadic lifestyle. It is commonly decorated with elaborate ornaments made from bird beaks, animal horns, hooves and feet. Although contemporary Kazakhs usually wear Western dress, the Turkic people wear more traditional clothing for holidays and special occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breton costume</span> Traditional clothing of the Breton peoples

Breton costume is the style of clothing worn by the Bretons as formal wear or festive clothing.

The Indian princess or Native American princess is usually a stereotypical and inaccurate representation of a Native American or other Indigenous woman of the Americas. The term "princess" was often mistakenly applied to the daughters of tribal chiefs or other community leaders by early American colonists who mistakenly believed that Indigenous people shared the European system of royalty. This inaccurate portrayal has continued in popular animation, with characters that conform to European standards of beauty, with the most famous misrepresentation being that of Pocahontas. Frequently, the "Indian Princess" stereotype is paired with the "Pocahontas theme" in which the princess "offers herself to a captive Christian knight, a prisoner of her father, and after rescuing him, she is converted to Christianity and lives with him in his native land." - a false narrative which misrepresents the events of Matoaka's life. The phrase "Indian princess", when used in this way, is often considered to be a derogatory term, a type of racial slur, and is deemed offensive by Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native American fashion</span>

Native American fashion is the design and creation of high-fashion clothing and fashion accessories by Native Americans in the United States. This is a part of a larger movement of Indigenous fashion of the Americas.

References

  1. "Native American Cultures and Clothing: Native American Is Not a Costume". National Museum of the American Indian.
  2. Kwas, Mary L. "Clothing in Native America" (PDF). Arkansas Archaeological Survey.