Introduction Patagonia Andes Amazon Mesoamerica / Caribbean Southwest Plains / Plateau Woodlands California / Great Basin Northwest Coast Arctic / Subarctic Contemporary Art
Moccasins

Odawa moccasins
ca. 1825–1835
Indiana
Hide, wool cloth, silk ribbon, glass beads
30 x 24 x 9 cm
Collected by Henry Clinton Carter
20/2175

Odawa fur traders of western Michigan traveled throughout the western Great Lakes and to the prairies of Manitoba. This pair of Odawa moccasins was purchased by a trader at Crown Point, Indiana, a fur trade depot. The moccasins are distinguished by the use of blue and black silk on the folded-down cuffs and vamps to underlay the beadwork. Teardrop- and diamond-shaped motifs of cut silk are added as appliqué and then outlined with white glass beads. Larger beads are used on the cuffs, and tiny beads on the vamps. The use of dashed lines of white glass beads on the cuffs is often found on Odawa moccasins of this distinctive style.

Back to Top