Regalia, like most things has changed over the years. Pre-contact there was much more quill decoration and the quahog (sp) bead work which comes in various colors of white-pink-coral to purple. Quill was dyed a variety of colors. I understand the skin (pre-contact) used to make it was smoked black, and the tunic made with detachable sleeves, In summer months both sexes often wore no tops. Nudity from the waist up was not a problem for our people pre-contact. I got this info in part from Barbara Mann , a Native American studies professor at the University of Toledo in Ohio, and I believe Seneca.
There are also pieces displayed in the small museum near Sandusky Ohio.
Post contact, many (both male and female) embraced the swirled floral patterned beadwork ( as opposed to the more geometric western styles), and a variety of colors. Our nation colors (per Michel Gros Louis) are north-white, east-yellow, south-red, and west so dark a navy blue as to be black. These colors also represented the original four nations (eastern, southern,western and northern) of the confederacy. North - Rock, East-Cord, south-Deer and west-Bear.
If you look at the logo constructed for the gathering in 1999, the center represents these colors and nations. The circle immediately outside this are the clans. |
