INDIAN TRIBES OF THE EASTERN wOODLANDS ... - Flames of War

of the French. They often traded with the
British, but they were of an independent
cast of mind, and bitterly resisted the
incursions of Anglo-American settlers.
Miami men wore very little; in summer
just a breechclout and moccasins, plus
in winter a deerskin shirt of simple cut.
Deerskins were generally dyed red, and
sometimes painted in the manner of the
Plains Indians. Breechclouts were also
red, which was a favourite Miami colour.
Leggings were worn on special occasions
and were knee or thigh length, gartered
at the knees. The front and bottom of
each leg were decorated by embroidered
bands. The roach was commonly worn by
warriors; sometimes the entire head was
shaved leaving a tuft at the crown, and
other men wore their hair short except
for long locks dangling in front of and
behind the ears.
Red facial paint was extensively used,
with black sometimes added. The body
was often painted brown. Men were also
tattooed with elaborate designs, such
as seven parallel lines on the nose and
cheeks, and ten on the chin.
SHAWNEE
The Shawnee (meaning “southerners”)
were wanderers who were often invited
by other tribes to live among them
because of their reputation as fighters.
An Algonquian speaking people closely
related to the Sac and Fox, they inhabited
a region which stretched from the
Great Lakes region to the Carolinas.
The Shawnee claimed to have been
responsible for preventing the Iroquois
from completing their conquest of the
Ohio Valley, and they resisted white
expansion more fiercely than any other
tribe. They threw up a great leader in
Tecumseh, who in 1811 came closer
than anyone to creating a pan-Indian
confederacy which might have slowed or
even halted the westward expansion of
the White frontier.
In their overall appearance they were
rather plain compared to the other tribes.
Men wore tanned leather breechclouts
with a short flap in front, and deerskin
leggings gartered below the knee, fringed
along the side seams and fastened to a
belt with straps. Other ornamentation was
rarely used; when it was, arrow, chevron,
and zigzag designs were preferred. The
roach was rarely worn. Men either shaved
their heads in front and attached feathers
at the back, or left the hair long and
loose. Some wrapped their long woven
sashes round their heads like turbans.
Face paint was usually red. Some of
the Perry Miniatures figures from their
American War of Independence range
which have the front of the head shaved
and the hair left long at the back, or the
large scalplocks and no roach, will do
quite well for Shawnees.
DELAWARE
The Leni-Lenape, as the Delaware
called themselves, were once a powerful
confederacy along the Atlantic coast.
They had an advanced culture, including
a form of picture writing, and the other
Algonquian speaking tribes regarded
them as the originators of their culture,
calling them “grandfathers”. Decimated
by disease and wars with the Europeans
and Iroquois during the 16th and 17th
centuries, they were eventually driven
first into Pennsylvania and then Ohio.
The Iroquois claimed to have defeated
them and reduced them to the status of
“women” (meaning that they surrendered
their political independence to the
League). Despite this the Delawares
were regarded as first rate woodsmen
and formidable warriors, who had a
reputation for ferocity despite mostly
being of only medium stature. In the 18th
century they were bitter enemies of the
Anglo-Americans, who took their best
lands in Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
(This was done with the permission of
the Iroquois, who did a brisk business
selling the lands of the tribes they had
supposedly conquered to the British!)
Delaware warriors wore breechclouts
with flaps in front and back, and thigh
length leggings of deerskin fastened at
the sides with thongs and gartered just
below the knees. Tanned deerskin cloaks
were worn fastened at the neck leaving
the arms free, and were sometimes draped
over one shoulder and belted. Clothing
was decorated with concentric circles or
spirals of shell beads. Winter robes of fur
(bear, wildcat, beaver, wolf and raccoon
sewn together) were also worn. Most
men wore their hair long and loose, either
with a wampum-decorated headband
or gathered at the back like a ponytail,
though some followed the dominant
fashion in the woodlands of shaving the
head and leaving a scalplock hanging
behind. Sometimes a brush of stiff hair
was left standing two to three inches high
from forehead to nape, combined with
a scalplock. Chiefs might wear a crown
of upstanding turkey feathers dyed red.
Delawares tattooed their faces and bodies
with animal figures. The face was often
painted with geometric or animal designs
in black, red, white, and yellow. Figures
are easily obtained: Conquest produce
a pack, and the Stockbridge Indians in
the Perry Miniatures range (who were
basically the same people) would also do
nicely.
HURON OR WyANDOT
These people were the remnants of the
Iroquoian speaking confederacies which
had been smashed by their relatives
of the Five Nations during the 17th
century. The scattered refugees reunited
in the Great Lakes region under the
name of one of their original tribes, the
Hurons, who were staunch allies of the
French. The Wyandots were a faction
of these people who emigrated to the
Sandusky region of the Ohio Valley.
The Hurons ended up in Minnesota,
and throughout the 18th century they
tried, in company with their allies the
Ottawa, to drive the Sioux from their
lands. (They were largely unsuccessful in
this, despite possessing more guns than
their enemies.) The Wyandots joined the
Delawares and Shawnees in opposing the
settlement of the Ohio Valley by Whites.
Both Wyandots and Hurons resembled
their Algonquian speaking allies in their
way of life more than they did their
Iroquoian cousins, though they were
never the woodsmen or canoemen that
the Algonquians were.
Huron and Wyandot men wore fitted
breechclouts, with flaps to mid thigh in
front and back, and thigh length leggings
tied to a belt with thongs. Sleeveless
tunics or ponchos were favoured in cooler
weather. Decoration on the clothing
consisted of bands of quillwork or moosehair
embroidery in reds and browns.
Garments were sometimes painted in
floral designs, and occasionally had long
fringes attached. A variety of hair styles
were worn. These included shaved heads
with the roach; shaved heads with a tuft
left on top and a scalplock; half the head
shaved with the hair left long on the other
half; hair worn loose; or in two large rolls
over the ears with the rest of the head
shaved. A chief’s headdress was a cap of
feathers with an embroidered headband
rising to a peak at the front. Both
tribes dyed their buckskin clothing and
moccasins black. Few men were tattooed,
but faces and bodies were painted with
geometric designs or representations of
animals and humans. Black, red, green
and violet paints were most popular.
MINGO
The Mingos were a dissident Iroquois
faction who settled in the lands which the
Five Nations claimed to have conquered
from the local tribes. They usually
ignored the policies of the League, and
were generally pro-French. Their towns
often contained members of all the local
tribes, including Delawares, Wyandots,
and Shawnees. They were very bitter
against the white settlers, especially
after some of these killed Chief Logan’s
family in a very brutal manner.
Men wore tanned leather breechclouts
with rather short ends at front and
back. Knee length kilts held in place
with a belt were worn for ceremonies.
Leggings were loose and long, partially
covering the moccasins and dragging on
the ground. They were sewn up in front
with an embroidered strip covering the
seam, gartered above the knee, and rarely
OLD west
1800 - 1900