Native American Unit Study - Lesson 8b: Plains Indians

My daughter made leggings, a pouch and a fancy bustle.

Since my daughters were both in dance and often wore leg warmers, they knew exactly what legging were. Native Americans wore them to keep warm, but also to protect their legs from plants and bushes. If you've ever done yard work or broken the trail on a hike wearing shorts, the value of leggings can be appreciated.

The crafts from this post were based on crafts discussed in the book More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life (Hands-On History) by Laurie Carlson. Each day we read about several traditions of Native Americans and then my daughter selects a craft based on the tradition. Since she enjoys sewing, she often selects clothing based crafts and modifies the instructions to incorporate fabric instead of paper.

Leggings
Native leggings were usually made from animal skins and contained fringe and other decorative items. My daughter made her leggings from green fleece fabric to go with the other articles of Native American clothing she has been sewing over the past several weeks.

 The were made by sewing rectangular pieces of fabric in half with a seam approximately two inches from the open edge of the fabric. Next she cut fringe into the open edge and sewed on ribbon for decoration.

Pouch
Native Americans carried pouches and bags in a large variety of shapes and sizes. Like the clothing, carrying cases were often decorated with beadwork.

 My daughter made this pouch from red fleece by sewing two pieces of fabric together. Once together, the flap was decorated with beads and folded down.

Fancy Bustle
Plains tribes wore a circle of feathers attached to their back for ceremonies. My daughter made one for her stuffed hedgehog.

 It was made by stapling feathers to a doughnut shaped piece of cardboard.