Native America

Discusses the history of various costumes worn by Native Americans.

Cultures of Native America -- Spiritual approach, the artworks, and the costumes -- share some common themes: respect for nature and the environment, tribal pride, and a sense of responsibility for one's place in the world. Nowhere are these themes more apparent than in the dress and body adornment of Native American peoples. Since the 1950s, there have been many familiar images of Native Americans from western films and novels. For example, the Apache Indian brave with his dramatic warpaint, feathered headdress, and tomahawk. Native America looks at these images with a fresh eye, and provides new ones, to give a full picture of Native American costume in all its beauty and variety, including: The making and wearing of the Inuit parka. Sea lion helmets of the Alaskan Aleut. Gold and feathered clothing of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca peoples. The meaning of the bear claw necklace.