High Top Moccasins
Kiowa artist, High Top Moccasins, ca. 1890/1900, leather, rawhide, paint, metal, and glass beads, The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection, no known copyright restrictions, 87.88.57A,B
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
High Top Moccasins
- Artist
- Date
ca. 1890/1900
- Medium
leather, rawhide, paint, metal, and glass beads
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
23 in x 3 1/2 in x 9 in
- Collection Area
Native American Art
- Category
Plains
Clothing and Textiles
- Object Type
moccasins
- Cultural Group
Kiowa
- Credit Line
The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection
- Accession Number
87.88.57A,B
- Copyright
no known copyright restrictions
- Terms
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.