The dress of the Southeast Indians, in general, after 1763's. After the Peace of Paris in 1763, the British needed surveys of their newly acquired territories. The Board of Trade decided to divide the continent into a Northern and a Southern District and appoint a Surveyor General of Lands. William Gerard De Brahm was appointed as Surveyor General to the Southern District. He wrote a report that covered the time span from 1751-1771. Previously, he had been a surveyor for other parts of the southeastern states and had traveled widely throughout the area interfacing with a large number of the Indian Nations, namely the Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Catawbas, Utchees, and Jamasees [Yamassees].1 De Brahm described the dress of the Indians, in general, in his report. "The Indians have no Distinction of Dress among themselves, or do they seem to have a Fancy for it, except it be in Painting their faces with red in time of expressing their peaceful Friendship, and with black in time when they intend to indicate their warlike Inclinations, and ornamenting their Hair, Ears and Necks with Feathers, Garters, and Beads; as also their Arms with Bracelets: If they have a Blanket or a Piece of Strout [Stroud] (by them called a Watch-coat) [match-coat] to hang about them as a Mantle in the day time, and to roll themselves in it at Night, they are satisfied, as they use very little else to cover their Body or Head; for which they seem to take no manner of Care, unless their Legs and feet, which they always keep rapt up in leather socks (Mockasins) and woollen Leggings. The Men pull out their Hairs vide[?], Eye-Brows and Beard, so that they appear as being born without the former, and grown Men without the latter, and thereby misled many Europeans to observe in their Journals that the Indians have neither Eye Brows or Beards, and that by Nature, whilst they might have seen the Women have all very strong Eyebrows."2 Tattooing of warriors was still practiced, using a Pin for scratching rather than a thorn or fish tooth.3 The warriors, still, painted their faces using black and red paint. They also adorned their hair with feathers and, prior to a battle, dressed in their finest clothes.4 When they were ready for combat, they "put on their worst Cloaths which is commonly a Blanket & Arse Clout & proceed against their enemies".5 In order to distinguish friend from foe, the males of different Indian nations still cut their hair in different ways.6 While the Indians kept some of their older traditions, they unfortunately lost many. William Bartram in 1789 wrote a manuscript in the form of queries and answers. Bartram wrote that he felt that they had forgotten not only what their country could produce but, also, how to make use of it. His example concerned using natural dyes.7 While their loss of knowledge has been described by many observers in the eighteenth century, new areas for craftsmanship had evolved. The missionary Abraham Steiner took interest in a young Indian who inlaid and engraved silver on tomahawk handles. Steiner, also, mentioned the engravings of flowers and animals done on nose and ear rings and plates as well as on the stocks of guns.8 Indian education in the colonies had been sporadically attempted since the seventeenth century. The Brafferton school of the College of William and Mary had been in existence since then. A bill for Cloathing for the Ingen Boys issued November 5th, 1773, shows the type of materials required to clothe them at that period. It is interesting to note that both men's and women's stockings were ordered. This is not the only record of such. Stockings at that time period were not different enough to warrant two distinct types. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that only women's stockings were small enough for some of the boys. However, that is not a satisfactory conclusion for American boys wore stockings also, and the price of the women's stockings was higher per pair.
During the Revolutionary war, the distribution of trade goods to the Indians was obviously disrupted. The balance of trade was a critical component of Indian/White relations. Who supplied the Indians with the goods they desired, also determined with whom the various Indian groups aligned themselves. It is interesting to note, especially in view of later historical events, that even after the New York Treaty of 1790 which guaranteed a certain annual stipend to be paid to the Creeks partially in goods, the balance of trade, according to Peter Brannon, was most probably toward European goods and dealers rather than from the Americans.10 In the eighteenth century, the missionaries began coming into the English section of the country in larger number than in the previous century. Two of the largest groups were the English based Society for the Propagation of the Bible and the Moravians. The latter were late comers and were not given permission by the Cherokees to set up permanent missions until 1799. The only reason they agreed to permit them to reside amongst them was because the missionaries had agreed to teach the children to read, write, do sums and to learn vocational skills such as farming and weaving to help them in their rapidly changing environment.11 While in the latter third of the eighteenth century there was variety in the types of dress worn from a simple breech-clout to a formal suit of clothes à la the English, within this variety there was a consistency of dress throughout the southeast. William Lee in his travels during that time period described a group of Delaware Indians camped near the Susquehanna river and then likened the Creek Indians to them. Both the men and the women wore little else than a woollen loincloth or short woollen petticoat.12 The Alabama and Coushatta (Koasati) Indians were two tribes that moved westward in the latter part of the eighteenth century. These migrations spread the Creek culture to neighboring areas of the southeast west of the Mississippi River.13 As has been stated in reference to the eighteenth century and even earlier, much of Indian attire was acquired from the white man. In addition, intermarriage between Indians and Whites became more common. The following is an excerpt from a diary of 1776. "The Creeks of both sexes are remarkably well formed, the women tall well limbed, but seem in a state of degenerating having a number in each Town of half breed, red & white, which may pass for the latter. They are fond of imitating the white peoples dress, as well as they can, the old People wore great Coats & others wore surtoots and don't paint but have black lines formed with gun powder on their Faces, & those that wore shirts affect poppery by paint and other ornaments, some wore Hats & one half breed had Shoes & Stockings. The men have but little hair on their heads except around the crown which they cut in form of a Toopee & ornament with paint oce (?), & pluck their beards, so the European notion of the Indians being hairy is false, the Indians says the European is so, & very justly. The women wore linnen Jacketts with a Petticoat to their knees, they dont paint except round the edges of their hair next to the face, their hair is remarkably stiff & long like horse hair, which they wore in a large club without any other covering on their head."14 |