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Powhatan clothing and makeup

Source:

First, Powhatan interpreter. Interview. 18 Oct. 2016.

Quote:

“every one made what they needed”

Paraphrase:

• wore very little clothing
• the fringe on clothing was for beauty or it was used so the clothes would dry faster
• if you were older you had more clothing
• women made most of the clothing
• clothing was made seasonally 
• woman wore necklaces made from trade bead, copper or shells
• clothes were held together by deer tendon call sinue 
• clothes were sewed together with a bone needle
• ranking showed through clothing
• people tattooed themselves by burning the skin and rubbing ashes into it
• men painted themselves to show culture and origin
• un married woman shaved their heads half way back
• when you were a kid you are shaved completely 
• you start to grow your hair out when you were 13 

My Ideas:

Powhatan woman dressed very plain but they had very beautiful and colorful jewelry and tattoos. All woman in the Powhatan community made their own clothing. You learned how to sew and make your own clothing at 13. Clothes were held together by deer tendon and sewed together with a bone needle. If you were an infant you ran around naked until you were 3. Your first piece of clothing was given to you at 4 years old and it was a frontal apron. As you grew older you would start to wear more and more clothing. Even though there wasn’t much rank in a Powhatan village clothing could show your rank because the more wealthy you were the more clothes you had. The people of the Powhatan tribes didn’t have to change their clothing seasonally because being exposed to such harsh weather conditions. They wore the same clothing all year round but new clothing was made seasonally. I can infer that when the Europeans came that most of the deaths were because the people weren’t fully prepared for such drastic change in weather so they either got too hot or too cold.  Powhatan woman loved to make jewelry. They made necklaces from trade bead, and copper. Jewelry was one of many things that the Powhatan’s traded with the Europeans. I can infer that clothing took longer to make for the Powhatan’s than the Europeans. I wonder if the Europeans got leather from the Powhatan’s before they had a full colony?

Along with clothing the Powhatan’s had certain hair styles almost like the Europeans. When you were a kid your hair was shaved all the way off. I wonder if they shaved it to it wouldn’t get in the way of the child’s hunting training or house chores. When you were 13 or 14 you were allowed to start to grow your hair out. You were allowed to fully grow your hair out when you were married. But if you were unmarried woman had to shave their heads half way back. Can infer that the length of your hair or the bay it was styled was a way that people in other Powhatan tribes to see who was married and who wasn’t for possible arrangements. I wonder how people determined what the different hair styles meant.  

The Powhatan culture also expressed themselves through big and colorful tattoos. Tattoos were mostly done on women and the men were painted. The tattoos and paint were used to show someone’s origin or it was used as make up. The process of getting a tattoo was pretty quick. First you used a heated instrument to burn through the skin then ashes or powders were poured the burn. The cooling process is still un certain because this method is long retired. Some skilled people could make really detailed designs and marks on both men and women. I can infer that all women in the Powhatan village were not favored over each other. I know that their was a rank each village but I think that everyone was allowed to have a tattoo. I wonder if people did the tattoos themselves or if other people did it for them? 

History:

Created: 10/26/2016 09:06 AM