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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



offer new problems to the investigating 

 visitor. 



The decorations found upon footwear 

 present even more interesting problems, 

 for we see from the exhil)it that certain 

 styles and even designs had their origin 

 in the structure of the moccasins, but 

 that when o\'er-de^'eloped they were 

 borrowed by people using other patterns. 

 We are thus able to discover how certain 

 decorations were devised and also to 

 trace their migration over the continent. 



For example, the true moccasin is 

 usually made of a single piece of skin as 

 shown in the baby's moccasin figured on 

 page 309, the pattern for which is shown 

 below it at the left. The shaping of the 

 piece to the foot results in a puckered 

 seam down the top of the moccasin, 

 which is inclined to be unsightly even 

 at the hands of the most skillful seam- 

 stress. It is not strange therefore that 

 one finds this part of the foot overlaid 

 by a piece of beaded skin (see page 308). 

 Such an ornamental patch will conceal 

 all the unsightly lines and give a fine 

 field for decorative design. In the east- 

 ern part of the United States where this 

 pattern of moccasin was prevalent, such 

 an overlay is frequently seen, but farther 

 west in the Plains we find moccasins made 

 in a different way, yet some of them bear 

 a band down over the foot as if they were 

 also hiding seams beneath, whereas in 

 fact there is no seam whatever. 



A slight variation of pattern is shown 

 at the right in the figure on page 312 

 where the seam is carried over the toe 

 and under the foot. The point here is 

 that a smooth seam is secured without 

 the puckered effect. The decorations 

 can now be a narrow l)and along the 

 seam, but usually a fringe is added. To 

 the left is a Sioux moccasin, the upper of 

 which has no such seam, yet upon it is 

 sewed a fringe with a beaded border, 

 giving the same effect. 



Another type of moccasin found 

 aroiuid Hudson Bay and westward in 

 Canada is shown on page 310. Its pat- 

 tern is indicated at the left of the figure 

 on page 312, a single piece of skin being 

 so folded as to cover the foot just over 

 the instep, where a U-shaped insert is 

 placed. The sewing in of this insert 

 results in a bold cur\ed seam. The 

 decoration is placed along this seam and 

 on the U-shaped insert. Since trade 

 days it has been customary to overlay 

 this insert with broadcloth or velvet, as 

 shown in the moccasin in the middle. 

 Just south of the Indians using this style 

 live the Blackfoot who use a moccasin 

 with a separate sole and the upper in one 

 piece as shown in the pattern at the 

 right on page 312. They decorate this 

 one-piece upper however, as if it had the 

 U-shaped insert, as shown in the left- 

 hand moccasin. It is clear that the 

 intent is to make their moccasins appear 

 like those of their northern neighbors. 



Still another example may be cited. 

 On page 313 we see the pattern for the 

 Apache. This moccasin has a sole like 

 a shoe, but the upper is split almost to the 

 toe and a long narrow insert sewed there. 

 Just what may be the purpose of this is 

 not clear but it determines a style of 

 decoration. The insert is painted and 

 fringed at one side as shown at the left 

 on page 311. Jsiorth of the tribes using 

 this pattern are the Sioux and Cheyenne, 

 who frequently adorn their footwear as 

 at the right. This moccasin has no 

 insert but the beaded bands are in place 

 and the space between them painted. 



The point in all this is that these styles 

 of decoration first developed not out of 

 nothing but as correlates of the structural 

 pattern. They first served some real 

 use, but once established as styles, were 

 carried over to footwear of other patterns 

 where they serve no function of the 

 structure. 



