American Indian moccasins

These are Huron Embroidered Hide Moccasins

made by the American Indians in the 1800's. They are made of

black-tanned hide. The extraordinarily embroidery on the vamps and

 cuffs are made out of moose hair. Using colors of blue, red, pink, yellow,

 and white; the cuffs edged in purple satin ribbon,

(I know it looks pink but it is purple. It has faded over time.)

the length 9 inches. Made for dancing, they wereput togeather in a two

piece style with the main body being one piece of buckskin, stitched

at the heel line. These moccasins are now kept in John painter

collection of American Indian art.

 

The embroidery is just so beautiful, the detail is amazing.

 I wonder how the made such exact stitching? And dying the moose hair,

 how did they do that? Most moose hair is a dark brown, so finding white

would be hard. The gathering of the hide gives it a dressier look.

You can tell by the color of the hide that they were well worn,

 they have turned from a light tan to brown.