National Archive Photo
This couple are from the Sioux tribe and 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.
The plains people dressed in clothes made from the hide of animals. Buffalo was most commonly used. 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.
| The chief below is wearing a war bonnet made of eagle feathers. |
Women wore dresses, leggings and moccasins. Sometimes
the clothes were beaded in beautiful colors or decorated with porcupine
quills and elk teeth.
Below is a painting of what Sioux daily life might have been like. Men hunted the buffalo and fought in battles to protect his family and tribe. Women owned and built the teepees, gathered nuts, berries and firewood, and prepared food. The women and girls also tanned the buffalo hides.
