Moccasin Making Tutorial
In this browse you will see many different moccasin styles that represent different tribes in the United States. Moccasins are made of leather and can also be decorated with other materials like beads, porcupine quills, and cones. Moccasins were and still are worn by the Indigenous people of the United States. Each tribe makes a different type of moccasin based on the material available in their region and the weather conditions where they live. Indigenous people in Alaska are going to make and wear a much warmer and protective moccasin than the Cherokee, who are originally from the Southeastern part of the United States.
In the Maker Moment about moccasins, Gilcrease Museum's former Education & Program Specialist, Danielle Culp, shows how to make puckertoe moccasins. Puckertoe moccasins are a center-seam moccasin that is puckered at the toe and is characteristic of the tribes that come from the Southeast. Please take a moment to browse these moccasins. You will find other center-seam moccasins as well as moccasins from other tribes across the United States.
Find all four tutorial videos and step-by-step instructions here.
| Image | Title | Creator | Culture | Accession # | Materials/Techniques |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Child’s beaded leather moccasins with silk cuffs | Unknown | Native American; Delaware | 84.279a-b | leather, glass, silk, cotton |
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Moccasins with Beaded Floral Designs | Native American; Blackfeet | 84.292a-b | leather, glass, cotton string | |
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Quilled leather moccasins with a geometric floral design on vamp | Native American; Northeast | 84.289a-b | leather, quills, cotton cloth, cotton string | |
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Soft soled leather moccasins with beadwork on vamp and on cuff | Unknown | Native American; Kickapoo | 84.310a-b | hide, glass, cotton |
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Woman's beaded high-top moccasins with silver buttons | Unknown | Native American; possibly Southern Cheyenne or Arapaho | 84.435a-b | hide, glass, metal |
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Beaded and painted leather moccasin with geometric designs and fringe | Unknown | Native American; Apache, Jicarilla or Mescalero (artist and user) | 84.336a-b | hide, glass, pigment, cotton |
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Beaded leather moccasins with geometric designs | Native American; Gros Ventre-Assiniboin | 84.333a-b | leather, glass, cotton string | |
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Woman’s beaded and quilled leather moccasins | Unknown | Native American; possibly Oc'eti S'akowin (Sioux) | 84.376a-b | leather, quills, glass, cotton |
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Beaded leather moccasins with geometric designs | Native American; Blackfeet or Crow | 84.383a-b | leather, glass, cotton string | |
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Woman's leather moccasins with beaded cuff | Unknown | Native American; Osage | 84.422a-b | hide, glass, cotton |
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Man's beaded leather moccasins | Unknown | Native American; Cheyenne; Southern | 84.308a-b | leather, glass, cotton |
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Woman's semi-tanned leather moccasins with beaded cuff and rosette | Unknown | Native American; Osage | 84.667a-b | semi-tanned hide, commercially tanned leather, glass, cotton |
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Woman’s beaded leather moccasins with floral designs | Native American; Eastern Sioux | 84.287a-b | leather, glass, silk, cotton cloth, cotton string. | |
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Beaded leather moccasins with copper cones and fringe | Unknown, Emil William Lenders | Native American; possibly Kiowa or Osage | 84.359a-b | leather, glass, copper, cotton |
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Beaded leather high top moccasins with green paint and metal studs | Unknown | Native American; Kiowa | 84.440a-b | hide, glass, brass, pigment |