Moccasins, as a style of shoe, are resurgent in popularity. They are a comfortable and popular form of slipper or house shoe for men and some brands even offer outdoor versions for everyday wear. While these Shoes share the same name as their predecessors, they are quite different. Historically moccasins were worn by native American people and based upon where those people lived the Shoes they wore were slightly different.
Moccasins are shoes that were made of deer hide and stitched together with sinew. They had soles and sides that were made from a single piece of leather. All Native Americans wore moccasins with designs that were substantially the same but with subtle differences. Native American people living in the forested northwest wore moccasins with soft shoes. These provided protection for their feet but still allowed them to feel the ground. The soft soles assisted them in moving quietly through the forest when hunting game. Out west, moccasins typically had hard soles because of the rough terrain and plants like cactus.
The word comes to us from the Algonquian language Powhatan word makasin. The Algonquian languages are a subfamily of languages spoken by Native American people who lived in North America. Sadly these languages are extremely endangered today with such a small number of native speakers which is continually shrinking. The Powhatan tribe was centered in Virginia with an estimated population of 14,000 to 21,000 people at the time of the Jamestown settlement in 1607. Currently the state of Virginia recognizes a total of eight tribes that can trace their heritage back to the Powhatan people. These tribes have a current population of registered members of 3,000 to 4,000 people.
Frontier people adopted the moccasin for footwear because they could easily be made with the resources that were available. Since encountering Native Americans for the first time in the fifteenth century Europeans learned many things, including how to make this comfortable and rugged footwear. Today moccasins are still popular and just as comfortable as they always were. Minnetonka Moccasin based in Minneapolis, Minnesota produces hundreds of different styles, from those designed as slipper to full length moccasin boots for women.
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