Makah Clothing and Ornamentation, 1870
The usual dress of the men consists of a shirt and blanket; but some, especially the old men, are content with a blanket only.
From: Unknown To: 1870 C.E.
Location: Cape Flattery, Washington
“Dress” from The Indians of Cape Flattery by James Gilchrist Swan, 1870.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
The usual dress of the men consists of a shirt and blanket; but some, especially the old men, are content with a blanket only. Nearly all of them how ever have suits of clothes of various kinds, which they have procured from the whites; but these are only worn on occasions of visits to the settlements up the Strait, on the arrival of strangers, or when at work for the white people, and are usually taken off when they return to their lodges.
It is not an unusual sight to see an Indian who has been well dressed, even to stockings and shoes or boots, perhaps for several days while with white people, or who may have been at work all day, come out of his lodge at night, or as soon as he leaves work, with nothing on but a blanket. This change from warm clothing to nearly none at all causes colds and coughs to be prevalent among them.
During rainy weather they wear, in addition to the blanket, a conical hat woven from spruce roots, so compact as to exclude water, and a bear skin thrown over the shoulders. They are not particular in the arrangement of their dress, even when they have clothes to put on, and may occasionally be seen parading with a cap on the head, boots on the feet, and the body only covered with a blanket.
Before blankets of wool were procured from the whites, their dress was composed of robes made of skins or blankets woven from dogs hair or from the prepared bark of the pine which is found on Vancouver Island. Very comfortable blankets were also made from the down of birds woven on strings to form the warp. These garments are still occasionally worn, and a description of their manufacture may be found under the proper head.
The dress of the women usually consists of a shirt or long chemise reaching from the neck to the feet; some have in addition, a skirt of calico like a petticoat tied around the waist, or petticoats made of blankets or coarse baize. Formerly their entire dress was merely a blanket and a cincture of fringed bark, reaching from the waist to the knees. This is called wad-dish, a name they apply to their petticoats of all kinds.
Some of the women, particularly the younger ones, have of late years dressed themselves in calico gowns, which are always of an antique pattern and open in front instead of the back. Occasionally a squaw who has been to Victoria and seen the fashions of white women will array herself in hoops, but these articles, so necessary to the dress of civilized females, together with bonnets, are not at all becoming to a squaw, and it is doubtful whether the fashion will ever obtain among these natives.
A Makah belle is considered in full dress with a clean chemise; a calico or woollen skirt; a plaid shawl of bright colors thrown over her shoulders; six or seven pounds of glass beads of various colors and sizes on strings about her neck; several yards of beads wound around her ankles; a dozen or more bracelets of brass wire around each wrist; a piece of shell pendent from her nose; ear ornaments composed of the shells of the dentalium, beads and strips of leather, forming a plait three or four inches wide and two feet long and her face and the parting of the hair painted with grease and vermilion. The effect of this combination of colors and materials is quite picturesque, which is perhaps the only praise that it merits.
Both sexes have their noses pierced, and usually, although not constantly, suspended from them a small piece of the haliotis shell (the "abalone" of the Californians), obtained from Vancouver Island, particularly on the eastern side in the Cowitchin district, where specimens of a large size are found. Some wear pieces of this shell two or three inches square as ear ornaments.
The men wear their hair long, but on whaling excursions they tie it up in a club knot behind the head. They frequently decorate themselves by winding wreaths of evergreens around the knob, or stick in a sprig of spruce with a feather. At times they vary this head-dress by substituting a wreath of sea-weed, or a bunch of cedar bark bound around the head like a turban. They paint their faces either black or red, as fancy may suggest, or in stripes of various colors. I have never been able to discover any particular signification for this practice, although I have frequently inquired. Some have told me the red paint was to keep the sun from burning their faces; others paint themselves black, either to show that they have stout and courageous hearts, or because they feel depressed; and others again because they happen to be in the humor of so doing.
Swan, James Gilchrist. The Indians of Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Fuca, Washington Territory. Smithsonian Institution, 1870.
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