Indian Crafts & Lore Quotes

“The Indian tribes living along the river valleys and on the offshore islands from northern Washington to Alaska are called the Northwest Coast tribes. They are noted for their wood-carving, particularly for their totem poles. These carved cedar poles were originally corner posts for the Indian houses. Later the custom of erecting one large pole in front of the house was adopted. There are several different types of totem poles. Some were erected to the memory of the dead. Others portrayed the owner’s family tree or illustrated some mythological adventure.
The poles varied in height from about 40 to 70 feet. The larger ones were as much as 3 feet in diameter. The carver was an important person in his tribe. For his work he might be paid from one hundred to two hundred and fifty blankets, each worth about three dollars. The early poles were painted black, white, and red. Other colors were used when the traders brought in factory-made paints.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The designs used by the Indians were partly geometric and were usually based on dreams of the owner. Often the owner’s totem was painted on the door flap.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Originally the Indians made their tepees of buffalo hides, but since the destruction of the buffalo herds by the white man, domestic cow hides have been used, as well as canvas. New buffalo-hide tepee covers were made every spring. The size of the tepee depended somewhat on the number of horses the tribe or family had, because it required several horses to transport a large tepee. The poles were made of lodgepole pine, cedar, spruce, or any other straight tree. Flexible poles were not used. The poles averaged about 25 feet in length and tapered from 4 to 1 inch in diameter.
In warm weather the lower part of the tepee was raised up on the poles to allow the breeze to blow through. In cold weather the space around the bottom between the stakes and the ground was packed with sod to hold it down tightly and to keep out the snow and drafts.
When the tepee was new it was nearly white. But by spring, the smoke and the weather had darkened it at the top and the skins became quite transparent. At night the campfires made the tepees look like large Japanese lanterns.
On the Great Plains the wind is usually from the west and for that reason the tepees were set up with the smoke hole facing the east. The flaps, or smoke hole ears, as they are called, were used to control the drafts and to keep the wind from blowing down the smoke hole. In case of a storm they could be lapped over to close the smoke hole completely.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The women of the Plains tribes made their clothing of soft, tanned elk skin. Their principal garment was a simple, sleeveless dress made from two hides. The style of the garment followed the natural shape of the skins with little change from tribe to tribe. These dresses usually hung loose from the shoulders. Belts were sometimes worn to draw them in at the waist.
Cowrie and other shells were used for decorations by the Crow, Sioux, and Blackfoot tribes. The shells were obtained by barter. Elk and buffalo teeth, leather thongs, bead and quill work, and tin cones were also used.
Originally, Indian women wore their hair straight or in braids.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The women of the Woodland tribes wore dresses made of soft deerskin. When Army and trade blankets were introduced in the Indian territory, the women started to use them for their dresses.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Music plays a very important part in the life of the American Indian. From the time he is born until he dies, his life is marked by dancing, and the drum is the keynote of it all.
There are three major types of drums—the small hand drum, usually with one head, commonly called the tom-tom and shown here. Other types (not shown) are the larger two-headed drum made from a hollowed-out log or keg, and the water drum, with a single removable head.
The drum heads are usually of rawhide, made from calf or deerskin. The drums are usually decorated with painted symbols and designs having religious or protective meanings. The American Indian never plays the drum by tapping it with his fist or hand—this is an African method. A drumstick is always used.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Most of the old Indian dances had very definite purposes. The Hopi Snake Dance and other dances of the Southwest were prayers for rain. Some dances were for healing purposes, some were for pleasure, some were for death, and some were for marriages.
In the old days the Indians danced the war dance to incite the warriors before they went into battle. When the braves returned, victory dances were held to celebrate their success.
Authentic Indian dances were never intended for general public entertainment. Many of the dances were very long and drawn out. For instance, the Sun Dance went on continuously day and night for several days until the dancers dropped from fatigue. This dance, by the way, is still practiced among certain tribes but has been modified considerably.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Most Indian tribes considered the eagle a great and powerful spirit. His courage was admired, his strength envied. The great height to which this bird flew gave evidence that he could reach heaven, and his plumes were said to carry prayers.
The Eagle dance is one of the most graceful of all the Indian dances, and the costume is one of the most spectacular of all Southwestern dance costumes. The Eagles usually dance in pairs but there are a few solo dances.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The buffalo played a large part in the ceremonies and mythology of the Plains Indians. Many myths and folk tales about the buffalo, which delighted both young and old, were told and retold about the campfires.
The first buffalo spirit was supposed to have been born in a northern cave and was said to have been pure white. It had great powers in healing, especially wounds. A white buffalo in a herd was supposed to be the reappearance of this buffalo spirit on earth. The hide taken from such an animal was sacred and had special ceremonial purposes.
Most of the Plains tribes had buffalo societies. The members of these groups took part in special buffalo ceremonies and dances. These men had personal names suggesting movements, actions, or postures of the animal, such as “Standing Buffalo,” or “Sitting Bull.”
The Buffalo Dance of the Plains tribes has many forms. Sometimes a herd of buffalo are represented. In this dance we have only one buffalo wearing a buffalo mask and a buffalo tail. Other dancers, eight or more in number, are hunters carrying feathered lances and shields.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The Apache Indians were wandering tribes who lived in the Southwest. Their dances are religious ceremonies in which they worship their gods: the sun, the moon, the planets, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and certain animals. Many charms and fetishes are used in these ceremonies. The masks and headdresses are made under the supervision of a priest, and before they are assembled, the dancers go through the purifying ceremony of a sweat bath.
The medicine men’s costumes of the Apache Devil Dance are very colorful and are all somewhat different. There are usually four dancers, one representing the devil.
Attached to the cloth mask which covers the face is a fan-shaped headdress made of thin narrow trips of yucca wood. These strips are arranged in many different ways and are painted with symbols representing the sun, moon, rain, stars, lightning, and so forth. Sometimes these designs were perforated through the thin slabs of wood. This fan is supposed to represent the spread tail feathers of a great bird. Sometimes turkey feathers were used on the headdress in place of the wooden fan.
The Apache medicine men made two sets of masks. These marks were used until it was felt that they had been worn out and had lost their magic powers. Then they were replaced with new masks, having strong and fresh medicine.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The Indians painted their faces and bodies for several different reasons—sometimes for protection against the sun, wind, and insects. Some of the markings indicated memberships in various political or religious societies; others represented brave deeds done by the wearer. Many times the designs were merely personal decoration without any particular meaning.
The dry coloring matter was carried in small buckskin bags and was mixed with bear or buffalo fat before being rubbed on the skin. Clays containing oxide or iron were used for red; kaolin clay was used for white; black was made from wood charcoal; and green from powdered copper ore. Colors did not represent the same things in every tribe, but generally most tribes used black to represent death, red for human life, blue for sadness or trouble, white for peace or purity, and yellow for joy.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The mythical Thunderbird, in one form or another, was held in awe by practically all of the Indian tribes. On the Great Plains, where the phenomena of thunderstorms was very striking, the Thunderbird was supposed to be a deity in the form of a bird of enormous size, which produced thunder by flapping its wings, and lightning by opening and closing its eyes. These great birds were thought to carry a lake of fresh water on their backs, which caused a great downpour when they flew through the air.
Tribes of the Pacific Coast thought the Thunderbird caught whales during a thunderstorm and used its wings as a bow to shoot arrows. Each tribe interpreted the bird differently in its art, as shown on these two pages. The design of the Thunderbird was used to decorate war drums, pottery, and walls and was supposed to protect individuals and tribes from the Evil Spirits.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“By the time Columbus discovered America, the Indians were already using beads for decoration. Beads were made from shells, bones, claws, stones, and minerals.
The Algonquin and Iroquois tribes of the eastern coast made beads from clam, conch, periwinkle, and other seashells. These beads were used as a medium of exchange by the early Dutch and English colonists. They were called “wampum,” a contraction of the Algonquin “wampumpeak” or “wamponeage,” meaning string of shell beads. The purple beads had twice the value of the white ones.
The explorer, followed by the trader, missionary and settler, soon discovered that he had a very good trade item in glass beads brought from Europe.
The early beads that were used were about 1/8 inch in diameter, nearly twice as large as beads in the mid-1800’s. They were called pony beads and were quite irregular in shape and size. The colors most commonly used were sky-blue, white, and black. Other less widely used colors were deep bluff, light red, dark red, and dark blue.
The small, round seed beads, as they are called, are the most generally used for sewed beadwork. They come in a variety of colors. Those most commonly used by the Indians are red, orange, yellow, light blue, dark blue, green, lavender, and black.
The missionaries’ floral embroidered vestments influenced the Woodland tribes of the Great Lakes to apply beads in flower designs. Many other tribes, however, are now using flower designs. There are four main design styles used in the modern period. Three of the styles are largely restricted to particular tribes. The fourth style is common to all groups. It is very simple in pattern. The motifs generally used are solid triangles, hourglasses, crosses, and oblongs. This style is usually used in narrow strips on leggings, robes, or blankets.
Sioux beadwork usually is quite open with a solid background in a light color. White is used almost exclusively, although medium or light blue is sometimes seen. The design colors are dominated by red and blue with yellow and green used sparingly. The lazy stitch is used as an application.
The Crow and Shoshoni usually beaded on red trade or blanket cloth, using the cloth itself for a background. White was rarely used, except as a thin line outlining other design elements. The most common colors used for designs are pale lavender, pale blue, green, and yellow. On rare occasions, dark blue was used. Red beads were not used very often because they blended with the background color of the cloth and could not be seen. The applique stitch was used.
Blackfoot beadwork can be identified by the myriad of little squares or oblongs massed together to make up a larger unit of design such as triangles, squares, diamonds, terraces, and crosses. The large figure is usually of one color and the little units edging it of many colors. The background color is usually white, although other light colors such as light blue and green have been used.
The smallness of the pattern in Blackfoot designs would indicate this style is quite modern, as pony trading beads would be too large to work into these designs.
Beadwork made in this style seems to imitate the designs of the woven quill work of some of the northwestern tribes with whom the Blackfoot came in contact.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Bags and pouches were used by all Indian tribes for many purposes. Bags were larger than pouches and usually were decorated with quill or beadwork. They were used to carry pipes, food, fire-making equipment, and miscellaneous objects. Pouches were smaller decorated containers used for carrying medicine, tobacco, sewing tools, and other personal articles.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The use of the peace pipe was held sacred by the Indians. Usually it was used in ceremonies of religious, political, or social nature. The decorations on the pipe’s bowl and stem, and even the method of holding or passing the pipe on to the next person, held great ceremonial significance. The pipe was never laid on the ground. To smoke it was a signal that the smoker gave his pledge of honor. It was also believed that the smoke made one think clearly and endowed him with great wisdom. In a treaty ceremony, the pipe usually was passed around to everyone, even before the speeches were made and the problems discussed.
Some pipes were made out of wood, clay, or bone. But the most popular and the most treasured were those made of the soft catlinite mined in the pipestone quarries of Minnesota. These red stone quarries were considered sacred by the Dakotas (Sioux), and were traditionally neutral ground for all tribes. Indians traveled many miles to get this pipestone, and it was a medium of barter between various tribes. The stone was so soft that it could be cut and worked into designs with a knife when freshly quarried. Some pipes were inlaid with lead. It is said that some of the Indian raids on small western town newspapers were made by the Indians to get type lead with which to inlay their pipes.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The Plains Indians decorated their moccasins with not less than three different colors of quills. Their favorites were yellow, red, green and purple.
Beaded moccasins had a larger range of colors, the average being four or five, and the preference was white, red, green, yellow and blue. The background color, almost exclusively, was white, although the Assiniboin tribe used blue for the background color.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Originally, moccasins were stained with earth colors or decorated with quill work. Later on, when the white man traded beads to the Indians, quill work gave way to beadwork designs.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The Indian always took two pairs of moccasins on his trips, because when one became wet or worn out, he always had a second pair handy.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“There were many designs and patterns. The Chippewa (Ojibwa) make moccasins with a puckered seam. Their name is said to mean “roast till puckered up,” referring to their moccasins.
Each tribe made and decorated their moccasins in a little different way. An Indian Scout in the old days could tell, from a discarded moccasin along the trail, what tribe had passed that way. Some of the Indians on a war party wore the moccasins of other tribes to confuse the enemy scouts.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“When the explorer and the settler started to invade the forests, mountains, and streams of the Indian, they soon found that their hard-soled, heavy boot was not a suitable type of footwear for crawling over slippery rocks and fallen trees, and walking along ledges. Their boots became heavy when wet, and refused to dry out over night; and, after getting wet and drying out a few times, the leather cracked open. The pioneers soon found that the soft moccasin worn by the Indian was ideal.
The name for the soft skin shoe of the North American Indian is derived from the Eastern Algonquin dialect “Mockasin” or “Mawhcasun.” With the exception of some of the Indians living along the Mexican boundary, who generally went barefooted, the moccasin was almost universally worn.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The long bone beads used in the breastplate were called hair pipes. They were used as a medium of exchange in trading. The finer they were, the more valuable they were. Originally they were made out of buffalo bones and later on, out of cow bones. They were not made by the Indians, however, but by white men who traded them to the Indians.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Indians made necklaces out of practically anything that took their fancy. Eagle and grizzly bear claws were prized by them because it required much skill and daring to get them.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The Plains Indians made cuffs and gauntlets which they wore on ceremonial occasions. The Blackfoot especially liked the gauntlet with its large beaded and fringed tops. These were no doubt copied after the riding gauntlets of the United States Cavalry in the Indian territory.
The Sioux, Crow, Ute, and Cheyenne made the cuff part only. These, too, were decorated with bead and quill work.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Practically all of the Indian tribes wore some form of shirt. This garment is usually mistakenly called a “war shirt.” In reality it was a ceremonial shirt usually worn by the older men or chiefs of authority on solemn occasions.
The Dakotas and Cheyennes trimmed their shirts with small hanks of horsehair. Sometimes human hair was used. These shirts were called “scalp shirts” by the white man who believed that all of the hair decorations were from scalp locks. The Blackfoot and some of the other tribes decorated their shirts with strips of white weasel skin.
Indians on the warpath did not wear shirts. They wore only a breechclout, leggings, and moccasins. War shirts were not worn for active dancing, either, because they were too hot.
Indians made their shirts out of soft buckskin. It usually took two hides for one shirt. Sometimes an additional hide was required for the sleeves.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Some of the famous warriors of the Western Plains earned more coup feathers in their lifetime than were required for a full-sized headdress. These warriors were allowed by tribal law to make and wear a war bonnet having either a single or double row of eagle feathers hanging down the back.
Originally these bonnets were only knee length, but when the Indian started to ride horses, the tails were extended to the wearer’s heels.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“When a warrior had enough feathers to make a war bonnet, he invited a few of his friends to his tepee. After enjoying a meal and smoking the pipe, they ceremoniously laid out the feathers and sorted them according to size. As each feather was being prepared, the story of the deed performed by the warrior in earning it was retold. Then the feather was fastened in its place on the war bonnet.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“There were several methods by which the Indians obtained eagle feathers. Some tribes dug a pit in the ground in the areas known to have eagles. These pits were large enough to conceal a brave. The trap was baited with a live rabbit or pieces of buffalo meat, and the opening was covered with a buffalo hide or brush. A large enough opening was left so that the Indian crouching in the pit could grab the tail feathers of the bird alighting to take the bait. The bird would lose its feathers, but could escape unharmed to grow new tail feathers by its next moulting period. This method was very dangerous. Often bears, attracted by the bait, would discover and kill the Indian. Sometimes eagles were caught and killed for their feathers.
There also were tribes who captured young eagles while they were still in the nest. These birds were tethered by a leather thong around their leg and were kept solely for their feathers; they were plucked regularly. These birds seldom became tame and never lost their desire for freedom. They continually would fly into the air as far as the leather thong would allow, screaming their defiance at their captor.
Regardless of where or how an Indian brave accumulated feathers, he was not allowed, according to tribal law, to wear them until he won them by a brave deed. He had to appear before the council and tell or re-enact his exploit. Witnesses were examined and if in the eyes of the council the deed was thought to be worthy, the brave was authorized to wear the feather or feathers in his hair or war bonnet.
These honors were called “counting coup” (pronounced “coo”). Deeds of exceptional valor (such as to touch the enemy without killing him and escape) were called “grand coup” and were rated more than one feather. Sometimes a tuft of horsehair or down was added to the tip of a feather to designate additional honor. Some tribes designated special deeds by special marking on “coup” feathers, such as cutting notches or adding paint spots.
The coup feathers of the American Indian can be compared to the campaign ribbons and medals awarded to our modern soldier. An Indian would rather part with his horse, his tepee, or even his wife, than to lose his eagle feathers. To do so would be to be dishonored in the eyes of the tribe. Many old Indian chiefs, such as Many Coup of the Crow tribe, had won enough honors to wear a double-tailed bonnet that dragged on the ground and to carry a feathered lance to display the additional feathers.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“Because of the Golden Eagle's great strength and courage, the American Indian admired this bird and prized his feathers above all other adornments.
The thirteen tail feathers of the adult bird were considered to possess great medicine. These feathers, which are white with dark brown tips, measure 12 to 14 inches in length. The eagle's wing feathers (pinion feathers) were also used for war bonnets, bustles, and other ceremonial regalia. Many times the Indian would make an entire war bonnet from one eagle, using the long tail feathers in the front, and the wing feathers in graduated sizes down the back. The right wing feathers would be used on the right side of the bonnet, and the left wing feathers on the left side of the bonnet.
The plumes or fluff feathers that grow at the base of the bird's tail were used by the Indians for the base of the larger feathers. The two largest plumes from the bird were called breath feathers by the Indians because of their lightness; the slightest breath would cause them to move as though they were breathing. These two feathers were sometimes 8 inches long and were valued as highly as brown-tipped tail feathers.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore

“The expression "Red Man" was used to describe the Indian by the white traders. It came from the fact that some of the Indian tribes painted themselves with red oxide. Actually, the color of Indian skin varies from very light yellow or olive color, to very dark brown. Their eyes vary in color from black, brown, or hazel to gray or even blue; their hair from straight, coarse black to soft brown. Some Indians are tall and straight with high cheek bones, while others are short, round, and squat.”
― W. Ben Hunt, Indian Crafts & Lore