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

oach hairstyle was almost universal,
though there was one section of the tribe
who wore their hair long and loose.
Other men shaved the head, leaving a tuft
running from front to back or side to side,
and a scalplock hanging from the crown.
The tuft was sometimes shaved, leaving
just the scalplock and roach, and the top
part of the shaved skull was then painted
red. Some Fox warriors wore a turban
made of otter fur, and a few sported
buffalo horn headdresses captured from
enemies like the Sioux and Iowa. They
liked red and black pigments, and some
chiefs illustrated by a European artist
had their faces painted blue. Yellow, red
and black stripes could be painted on the
lower half of the face. Among the Fox
and the Sac, hands painted on the body
denoted an enemy killed in hand to hand
combat. Sac and Fox figures are available
in the Conquest range.
SAC
Closely related to the Fox and Kickapoo,
the Sac were allies of the French. They
moved south into the territory of the
Illinois Confederacy in the 18th century,
occupying the area around the Rock
and Mississippi Rivers. Sac men wore
the usual breechclout and moccasins in
summer, with a robe added in winter. The
breechclouts, usually painted red, were of
the fitted type without flaps. Hip length
leggings of deer or elk skin were also
worn. These were whitened with clay and
decorated with porcupine quillwork and
fringes at the sides. Geometric quillwork
and abstract floral moosehair embroidery
were used for decoration. Hairstyles and
headdresses were similar to those of the
Fox. For painting the face and body,
white and black pigments were favoured,
with the eyes often rimmed in red paint.
White stripes were sometimes painted
round the arms and legs.
OTTAWA
The Ottawa lived too far north for
agriculture, their land was poor in the
wild rice so abundant in the land of
the Chippewas, and there were few fur
bearing animals in their country. So they
had little choice but to become traders.
This honed their diplomatic skills,
and they eventually produced one of
the greatest Native American leaders,
Pontiac, who led a great revolt against
the British in 1763. The Ottawas had a
reputation for cunning, treachery and
cruelty, but proved loyal to the French,
and became the nucleus of anti-British
hostility after the French and Indian War.
The French often remarked on the
prevalence of nudity among the Ottawas.
Men usually wore only a robe and
moccasins, though sometimes a fitted
leather breechclout was seen with
flaps in front and back, decorated with
quillwork. Leggings, when worn, were
simple thigh length tubes of hide, fringed
on the outside seams and gartered just
below the knees. Some men favoured
the roach, but the head was more often
shaved except for a scalplock hanging
from the crown, and a central tuft running
front to back and decreasing in height
towards the back. Hair could also be
worn in two or four braids sometimes
wrapped in fur or thongs. Yet others
allowed the hair to hang loose or shaved
it all except for a tuft at the crown. Men
were commonly tattooed with designs
including lizards, snakes, and geometrical
figures, sometimes covering the entire
body. The face and body were painted in
red, brown, green and black.
POTAWATOMI
The Potawatomi were close relatives of
the Chippewa and Ottawa. They wore
tanned leather breechclouts with quillwork
bands at the bottom, and flaps hanging
down to the knees at front and back.
Leggings were deerskin, thigh length,
fringed down the side seams and gartered
below the knees. Unseamed pieces of
tanned skin were worn for shirts. The
Potawatomi decorated these garments with
quillwork in geometric designs, and with
dyed moosehair in modified floral patterns.
Warriors generally shaved their heads
and wore the roach. The most common
style was a tuft of hair from front to back
with a scalplock hanging down; a single
eagle feather was often added at the back.
Warriors painted their faces red and black,
the upper face frequently being all black,
and the eyes ringed in red and/or black.
WINNEBAGO
The Winnebago were a Siouan speaking
tribe from Wisconsin. Early traditions
connect the Winnebagos with the
northernmost Mound Builder centre
of Azatalan. Perhaps because of this
exalted ancestry they were said to be
haughty and arrogant, looking down
on the surrounding tribes as inferior.
They also had a reputation for treachery
and cannibalism. The Winnebagos
occasionally sent warriors to help the
French, but mostly they stayed neutral.
They wore breechclouts consisting of
an underpiece and two separate
apron flaps, or a long, single
piece of material ending in
flaps. These were of elk or
deerskin, painted red or black.
Leggings were also made of elk or deer
hide. They were usually knee length
and gartered below the knees. In cooler
weather a poncho type shirt reaching to
the hips was worn. Shirts and leggings
had short fringes. Men wore their hair
either in two braids, or just clumped on
either side and fastened with thongs.
A few men wore the roach for war,
usually with a roach spreader and one
or two feathers inserted in a swiveling
socket. Headdresses made of rawhide
with buffalo horns and grizzly-bear
claws could also be worn. Warriors
painted their faces and bodies red, black
or green. A hand painted on the face or
breast signified a man who had killed an
enemy, and men who had gone on the
warpath in winter commemorated this
feat by painting their legs white.
THE SOUTHEAST
South of the Ohio Valley, and stretching
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic,
was a region inhabited by some of the
most advanced tribes in North America
- so much so that they later became
known as the Five Civilized tribes.
Despite this the Southeastern peoples
were extremely warlike, and bitterly
resisted both the incursions of the
Iroquois from the north and the advance
of White settlement.
CATAWBA
The Catawba were one of a number
of Siouan-speaking tribes inhabiting
the Carolina Piedmont country, east of
the Appalachians. During the late 17th
century they absorbed other tribes which
had been weakened by the English
colonists and the diseases they had
brought with them, so that by the early
18th century they were an agglomeration
of many different nations, and a variety
of languages could be heard in the
Catawba towns. They allied themselves
closely to the colony of South Carolina,
and fought loyally for the British
throughout the Colonial Wars. They
helped the British destroy French posts
along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and
the French responded by embroiling
their Great Lakes allies in constant wars
with the Catawba. The Iroquois also
raided as far south as the Carolinas, and
a bitter and protracted war broke out
between the League and the Catawbas,
who stubbornly refused to be beaten
into submission. This situation was
much to the discomfiture of the British,