Part of Clothing Set: Moccasin Trousers
Item number E1857-1 from the National Museum of Natural History.
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Notes
FROM CARD: "TRIBE YUKON RIVER INDS. HAN KOOTCHIN" ILLUS (tunic and moccasin trousers).: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG. 67, P.65. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22, 1988. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993."Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact (under # ET1857B) http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=5, retrieved 8-13-2012: Moccasin pants or trousers. This pair of man's moccasin trousers are made of soft, tanned caribou skin. There were part of a suit of clothing that was purchased in the late 1850s or early 1860s by Hudson's Bay Company fur trader Bernard Ross. Like the trousers, the tunic and mittens (E1857-0 and E1857-2) are decorated with bands of trade beads and with lines of red mineral (ocher) paint along the edges, seams, and beaded areas. In the past, men and women of all Alaskan Athabascan groups wore similar moccasin trousers and tunics. Along the Yukon River and its tributaries these garments were made by the Gwich'in (1), Koyukon (2), Upper Tanana (3), and Deg Hit'an.(4) In southern Alaska, both the Dena'ina and Ahtna wore this type of clothing.(5) Moccasin trousers often had tanned caribou skin leggings and moose hide soles.(6) Hair was left on the caribou skins when making winter trousers, and turned to the inside. Upper Tanana people wore winter trousers made of mountain sheep skins and put rabbit fur inside to insulate their feet.(7) Moccasin trousers were originally decorated with porcupine quill embroidery and later with glass trade beads.(8) This type of garment went out of style among most Athabascans by the mid to late 19th century, replaced by pants and unattached moccasins.(9) However, some in the Upper Tanana region were still wearing moccasin trousers in 1930, and the Gwich'in were making them for children at that time.(10) 1. Mackenzie 1801:48; McKennan 1965:45; Murray 1910:84; Osgood 1936:39-40; Richardson 1851 Vol. 1:380 2. Dall 1870:82-83; Michael 1976:244-46 3. McKennan 1959:78-80 4. Osgood 1970:262; Michael 1976:244-46 5. Allen 1887:131, Osgood 1937:46 6. McKennan 1959:78, 1965:45; Osgood 1936:39 7. McKennan 1959:78 8. VanStone 1981:11-16 9. Simeone and VanStone 1986:7 10. Duncan and Carney 1997:24: McKennan 1959:45, 79
Item History
- Made
- Collected by Bernard R. Ross
- Received on December 27, 1866
What
- Name
- Part of Clothing Set: Moccasin Trousers
- Identification Number
- E1857-1
- Type of Item
- moccasin trouser
Where
- Holding Institution
- National Museum of Natural History
- Made in
- “Canada (not certain) / United States (not certain): Arctic Coast” ?
- Collected in
- “Canada (not certain) / United States (not certain): Arctic Coast” ?
Who
- Culture
- Han
- Field Collector
- Bernard R. Ross
When
- Acquisition Date
- on December 27, 1866
Other
- Accession Number
- 66A00095
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