What Did the Cheyenne Indians Wear?
The Cheyenne people mainly wore clothing and shoes made of elk, deer and buffalo skin decorated with porcupine quills and shells. Animal teeth and small bits of bone were used as well. Deerskin was the most popular type of clothing because it was light, soft and flexible. The women wore long deerskin dresses, and the men wore buckskin breech cloths and shirts.
The war shirts worn by men were adopted from other tribes of Plains people. In the winter, the Cheyenne added leggings and animal furs to their wardrobes to keep warm. Women normally wore tall leather boots, and the men wore moccasins. Both Cheyenne men and women wore fringed clothing. When the fringes swayed in the wind, they helped swat away flies. If an item, such as an arrow, needed to be lashed, they could use the fringes from their clothing for the job.
The Cheyenne men wore feather headdresses, and they eventually began wearing long war bonnets that most of the Plains people wore. For special occasions, the Cheyenne wove clothes and used special paint on their faces, but this was rare and meaningful because there were few materials available for this type of clothing. Jewelry made of leather, bone and shells was also worn at times.
