Uses of Buffalo Skins



Buffalo robes, clothing, tipi covers, tipi linings, parfleches, drums, shields, saddlebags, and many small skin containers for medicine, tobacco, and other objects were painted and embroidered.

Robes with the hair left on were used as winter coats or blankets, worn with the hair side in. In mild weather they were worn with the skin side in. Skins with the hair scraped off were worn as cloaks or mantles in milder weather. The head of the animal was worn to the left, and the longer dimension of the hide around the body. Some of the hides were cut in halves and sewn together with sinew.

The colors for painting included brown, red, yellow, black, blue, green, and white. Charcoal served for black, and iron oxides and colored clays furnished much of the pigment.

( The Kiowas, by Mildred P. Mayall, University of Oklahoma Press)






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