Inuit Clothing

In the Arctic, under harsh cold and bare conditions, the Inuit people reside(d). To survive the -30 degrees C. the Inuit have adjusted their life in the way of clothing, shelter, etc. The native animals of the land and water are not just for food, but are used for clothing to keep. The caribou hide is the main material used, as the hollow hair traps air, which makes an excellent insulator. Layers of parkas (hood also lined with fur and covers most of face when drawn, so wearers breath helps to insulate), winter pants, and mittens helped keep the Inuit alive in the winter. Seal skin boots were used to produce "double boots." In the short summers, it is not as cold so the Inuit people removed the outer layer to adjust to this new climate.

A parka not fully drawn to face

Sealskin boots

Iroquois Clothing

Iroquois men wore breechcloths with long leggings. Iroquois women wore wrap-around skirts with shorter leggings. Men did not originally wear shirts in Iroquois culture, but women often wore a tunic called an overdress. Iroquois people also wore moccasins on their feet and heavy robes in winter. In colonial times, the Iroquois adapted European costume like long cloth shirts, decorating them with fancy beadwork and ribbons.

Iroquois men wore a gustoweh, which was a feathered cap with different insignia for each tribe (the headdress worn by the man in this picture has three eagle feathers, showing that he is Mohawk.) Iroquois women sometimes wore special beaded tiaras. Iroquois warriors often shaved their heads except for a scalplock or a crest down the center of their head (the style known as a roach, or a "Mohawk.") Iroquois women only cut their hair when they were in mourning, wearing it long and loose or plaited into a long braid. Men sometimes decorated their faces and bodies with tribal tattoos, but Iroquois women generally didn't paint or tattoo themselves. Plains

The Plains wore tunics, skirts, leggings, moccasins, and breechcloths. Instead of being made out of bison hide like most other items made by the Plains people, the clothing was made from deer skin (usually stripped except for the winter when the fur helps keep the people warm).

National Archive Photo

These people are wearing ceremonial dress. The man is wearing a war bonnet decorated with eagle feathers. The circle on the side of his hat symbolizes the cycles of nature.

In hot weather, men wore breechcloths. When it got colder, especially in the northern part of the region, they added deerskin shirts, leggings, and moccasins. Women wore dresses, leggings and moccasins. Sometimes the clothes were beaded in beautiful colors or decorated with porcupine quills and elk teeth. Plateau Clothing

All clothing were made from deer hide. Moccasins, on the other hand, were either made from deer hide or salmon skin, depending on your importance and wealth. For those who are middle class to low class (average) then you wore salmon skin moccasins, and the bearing of deer skin moccasions indicated that you were important and wealthy.
The people used beads to decorate a lot of their clothing. Most of the beads were made out of soapstone. They also decorated their clothing with paint. Usually they used geometric patterns to represent different things like:
Blue squares represented a lake. Red lines represented the earth.

Beaded moccasins

Nlaka'pamux painted rawhide bag

The women of the Plateau region were responsible for making all the clothing for their families, which included dresses, leggings, shirts, jackets, and robes. They used tanned hides, grasses, and softened bark. The women of the Plateau region were responsible for making all the clothing for their families, which included dresses, leggings, shirts, jackets, and robes. They used tanned hides, grasses, and softened bark. The most common animal hides used for clothing were muskrat, beaver, and deerskin.. They also made use of the animal furs for warmer winter clothing. Capes were usually made out of animal skin or animal fur. Moccasins were most commonly made out of deerskin, although salmon skin was used as well. Moccasins were often beaded for decoration. Northwest Coast Clothing

The people of the Northwest Coast wore very little clothing, except when it was cold. In the warmer months, men would often go naked, and women would only wear bark skirts. The women made most of the clothing out of softened cedar wood or bark, animal leather, and wool. Since it rained a lot on the Northwest Coast, clothing was more important for blocking the rain than for keeping them warm. They wore bark capes and spruce hats as protection against the rain.

Salish goat wool coat