High Top Moccasins Item Number: 87.88.57A,B from the Portland Art Museum
Description
Traditional footwear for Plains Indian women is usually either boots or a combination of moccasins and leggings. Lakota women commonly wore the latter. The moccasins are characteristically made with a hard rawhide sole and a bifurcated tongue; these are often extensively decorated with lazy stitch beadwork in geometric designs on a white background. Leggings offered additional protection and a sense of modesty. In contrast to Lakota women, many Kiowa women traditionally wear knee-high boots, decorated with much less beadwork than the Lakota moccasins and employing a different approach to color. Kiowa beadwork commonly uses different beaded designs on each toe, and the boots are further ornamented by metal studs and by paint on the unbeaded surface.
Collection History Provenance
The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.
Item History
- Made by Kiowa artist during 1890
What
- Name
- High Top Moccasins
- Identification Number
- 87.88.57A,B
- Type of Item
- moccasin
- Material
- leather, rawhide hide, paint, metal and glass bead
- Overall
- height 23.0 in, width 3.5 in, depth 9.0 in
Who
- Culture
- Kiowa
- Creator
- Kiowa artist
Where
- Holding Institution
- Portland Art Museum
- Made in
- “Plains” ?
When
- Creation Date
- during 1890
Other
- Categories
- Plains; Clothing and Textiles