All American Indian moccasins were originally made of soft leather– usually deerskin– stitched together with sinew. Though the basic construction of Native American moccasins was similar throughout North America, moccasin patterns were subtly different in nearly every tribe, and Indian people could often tell each other’s tribal affiliation simply from the design of their shoes. Tribal differences included not only the cut of the moccasins designs among different tribes, but also the extensive beadwork, quillwork, painted designs, and fringes many Indian people lavished on their moccasins. In some tribes hardened rawhide was used for the sole for added durability, and in others rabbit fur (or, later, sheep skin) was used to line the leather moccasins for added warmth. Both men and women wore moccasins, although in many tribes the decoration of male and female moccasins used a different pattern. Plains Indian women also wore moccasin boots sometimes, which were basically just womens’ thigh-length leggings sewn to their moccasins for a one-piece look (this style of boot is very beautiful when fully quilled). Heavier-duty boots called mukluks were the invention of the Inuit (Eskimos), who made them of sealskin, fur, and reindeer hide; some subarctic Indian tribes adapted the mukluk style of boots through trade or other contact with the Inuit, using caribou or buckskin instead of sealskin. Today, women adapted the design of the mukluks as part of their traditional wears.
