Child's Moccasins

Child's Moccasins, Dakota Sioux, North American Plains, c. 1893

These moccasins were made by the Dakota Sioux in the late 1800s. They were made for a very young child, and were probably not gender specific. They provide another good example of ungendered childhood clothing. The moccasins were made by a woman, who would also have done the beading as well. Sioux women would make many types of moccasins, for different types of people in their tribe and, while children's moccasins were ungendered, the moccasins made for men and women differed in style and ornamentation. Hunting moccasins, made for men, were much more elaborately decorated than those for the children or women, and often featured porcupine quills, beads, and other types of ornaments.