Moose Hair Tassels

A pair of moccasins from the Northeast Indians (?) decorated with glass beads and moose hair tassels, 1860s. A pair of moccasins from the Northeast Indians (?) decorated with glass beads and moose hair tassels, 1860s. © Trustees of the British Museum, acc. no. Am.2631a-b.

Moose hair tassels were used by some Eastern Woodlands and Plains Indians of North America in order to decorate their garments and footwear.

Bundles of fine moose hair, usually dyed reddish-orange (occasionally dyed blue, or left undyed in its natural white colour) were folded, tied and trimmed. A metal cone was placed on top of the bundle to secure the fibres in place. Sometimes glass beads imported from Europe were attached to the tassel as well. Deer or elk hair was used if moose hair was not available. Such tassels were often used as fringes on garments. Sometimes single tassels were used to decorate the seams on moccasins.

See also: deer hair tassels; elk/wapiti hair tassels; quillwork

Sources:

  • SPECK, F. C. (1911). 'Huron Moose Hair Embroidery,' American Anthropologist, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1-14. Also available here. (viewed September 2014).
  • TURNER, Geoffrey (1955). Hair Embroidery in Siberia and North America, Occasional papers on Technology: 7. Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, p. 39.

British Museum online catalogue (retrieved 27 June 2016).

RL

Last modified on Tuesday, 24 January 2017 17:04
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