What did the Kalispel wear?

Answer 1

The Kalispel or Pend d'Oreilles are a Salishan people of the Rocky Mountains who were in constant conflict with the Blackfoot tribes of the Plains and absorbed many elements of Plains culture, but are classified as Plateau people.

Men wore only deerskin breechclouts reaching the knees in the summer months; in cooler times they added leggings and shirts of elk, deer, mountain goat or antelope hides (collectively called buckskin). Shirts were often decorated with small pieces cut out to make patterns of perforations. Leggings were gartered below the knee, and sometimes had an applied patch of colour around the lower edge of each leg.

Women originally wore a wraparound skirt, with a top shaped like a poncho; later the Plains-style two-skin dress was adopted, some with a fringed and beaded cape. Leggings were short, with beaded strips along the seam and short fringes.

Typical soft-soled moccasins like those of the Blackfoot and Crows were worn, with tall cuffs added in winter.

Blackets were woven from goat wool; cloaks were made from sagebrush, Indian hemp or nettle fibres. Rabbit and other furs were also made into blankets, with very few buffalo hides being traded from the Plains tribes.

Hair was worn long and loose by both men and women. Plains influence led to some people wearing the hair in two braids; women then adopted a special type of decoration at the ends of the braids to indicate puberty. White ermine skins were sometimes used to decorate the braids and white paint was applied each side of the central parting. Fur caps were worn in the winter and some women wore typical Plateau basket hats woven from hemp fibres.

Shells were favoured as jewellery, particularly abalone and dentalia; elk teeth were sewn in rows on the yoke of the dress. When trade cloth was available from white traders, the same elk teeth rows were applied. Men favoured white trade blankets with coloured stripes at one end, making them into winter coats.

See links below for images:

Answer 2

The Kalispel or Pend d'Oreilles are a Salishan people of the Rocky Mountains who were in constant conflict with the Blackfoot tribes of the Plains and absorbed many elements of Plains culture, but are classified as Plateau people.

Men wore only deerskin breechclouts reaching the knees in the summer months; in cooler times they added leggings and shirts of elk, deer, mountain goat or antelope hides (collectively called buckskin). Shirts were often decorated with small pieces cut out to make patterns of perforations. Leggings were gartered below the knee, and sometimes had an applied patch of colour around the lower edge of each leg.

Women originally wore a wraparound skirt, with a top shaped like a poncho; later the Plains-style two-skin dress was adopted, some with a fringed and beaded cape. Leggings were short, with beaded strips along the seam and short fringes.

Typical soft-soled moccasins like those of the Blackfoot and Crows were worn, with tall cuffs added in winter.

Blackets were woven from goat wool; cloaks were made from sagebrush, Indian hemp or nettle fibres. Rabbit and other furs were also made into blankets, with very few buffalo hides being traded from the Plains tribes.

Hair was worn long and loose by both men and women. Plains influence led to some people wearing the hair in two braids; women then adopted a special type of decoration at the ends of the braids to indicate puberty. White ermine skins were sometimes used to decorate the braids and white paint was applied each side of the central parting. Fur caps were worn in the winter and some women wore typical Plateau basket hats woven from hemp fibres.

Shells were favoured as jewellery, particularly abalone and dentalia; elk teeth were sewn in rows on the yoke of the dress. When trade cloth was available from white traders, the same elk teeth rows were applied. Men favoured white trade blankets with coloured stripes at one end, making them into winter coats.

See links below for images: