[NATIVE AMERICAN] c. 1915 Cheyenne Beaded Hide Moccasins

A Pair of Cheyenne Beaded Hide Moccasins. Plains, circa 1915.

A handsome pair of Cheyenne moccasins fashioned from tawny hide, with high, open cuffs, hide ties, and separately attached soles. White-ground beadwork ornaments the vamps and follows the lower perimeter, incorporating dark blue, red, and yellow accents. On the prominently displayed vamp, a rounded red device encloses a smaller blue center, with angular blue elements and additional colored details arranged around it.

The decoration is concentrated across the toes and along the sole line, leaving broad expanses of hide exposed at the sides and cuffs. This measured distribution gives the pair a pleasing balance between richly worked ornament and the natural texture of the material. Narrow beaded passages at the rear extend the decorative scheme beyond the principal vamp panels.

The construction and placement of ornament find parallels in documented Cheyenne footwear. A pair preserved at the Gilcrease Museum likewise combines separate hard soles, substantial cuffs, white-ground geometric beadwork, and decoration extending up the heel. Such comparisons situate the present pair within an established footwear tradition while allowing for the individuality of its design.

Dating to approximately 1915, these moccasins illustrate the continued practice of Cheyenne hideworking and bead decoration into the twentieth century. Across the Plains, women’s expertise in preparing and ornamenting hide was highly valued; glass beads acquired through trade expanded the decorative possibilities of an older practice that included porcupine quill embroidery. Beaded footwear belongs to this history of adaptation, in which introduced materials became integral to distinctive Native artistic expression.