INDIAN TRIBES OF THE EASTERN wOODLANDS

INDIAN TRIBES OF THE
EASTERN wOODLANDS and
woodland Longhouses
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, PAINTING AND MODELLING GUIDES
By Tim Greene, photos by Tom Weiss
War In The Forest, a supplement for Chris Peers’s skirmish rules set A
Good Day to Die, was released in February of 2005. It covers warfare
in the eastern woodlands of North America during the 18th century,
involving encounters between settlers, Rangers, Coureurs du Bois,
and of course Indian war parties. Historically most of the fighting
pitted rival Indian tribes against each other, and War In The Forest
is especially suitable for this as it concentrates on bringing out the
differences in fighting styles and abilities between the most important
combatants. So it might be a good idea to distinguish the appearance
of the various woodland tribes, so that players of these and other rules
can paint up their figures to represent their favorite tribe. In this article
I shall look at the principal inhabitants of the Ohio Valley, the Great
Lakes region and the Southeast during the 18th century.
Fortunately for those who are not skilled
at conversions and modeling, figures
representing specific tribes are now
becoming available from Conquest
Miniatures of Rancho Cucamonga,
California. Their line now includes
Iroquois, Delaware and Sac and Fox,
as well as several packs of “generic”
woodland Indians suitable for several
different tribes.
The Ohio Valley
The Beaver Wars of the mid to late
17th century saw many tribes such as
the Eries, Neutrals, Hurons, Petuns,
Delawares and Susquehannocks
destroyed, scattered, or absorbed by the
victorious Five Nations of the Iroquois.
Some of those who escaped fled south
and some north, but many went to the
Ohio Valley and its rich hunting grounds.
Here they met tribes already established
in the region such as the Miamis and
the Shawnees. Mostly they welcomed
the refugees and allowed them to
settle on land that was not being used,
though both they and the newcomers
later resisted white incursions into their
hunting grounds. During the 18th century
the immigration of Anglo-American
colonists, and the efforts by the French
to bring the Ohio Valley tribes into their
system of trade and fur production,
provoked not just conflict between whites
and natives, but incursions by the Great
Lakes and New York tribes on behalf of
their European allies.
Miami
The Miami were originally from the
Great Lakes area, but migrated south into
the Ohio Valley where they joined the
Illinois Confederacy. The Miamis were
well respected as warriors. They bearded
the Iroquois on at least one occasion, and
in the 1790s, under Little Turtle, they
were responsible for the worst defeat
ever suffered by the U.S. army in its wars
with the Indians. Unlike most of the Ohio
Valley tribes the Miamis were not friends
Miami men wore very little; in summer
just a breechclout and moccasins, plus
in winter a deerskin shirt of simple cut.
Deerskins were generally dyed red, and
sometimes painted in the manner of the
Plains Indians. Breechclouts were also
red, which was a favourite Miami colour.
Leggings were worn on special occasions
and were knee or thigh length, gartered
at the knees. The front and bottom of
each leg were decorated by embroidered
bands. The roach was commonly worn by
warriors; sometimes the entire head was
shaved leaving a tuft at the crown, and
other men wore their hair short except
for long locks dangling in front of and
behind the ears.
Red facial paint was extensively used,
with black sometimes added. The body
was often painted brown. Men were also
tattooed with elaborate designs, such
as seven parallel lines on the nose and
cheeks, and ten on the chin.
Shawnee
The Shawnee (meaning “southerners”)
were wanderers who were often invited
by other tribes to live among them
because of their reputation as fighters.
An Algonquian speaking people closely
related to the Sac and Fox, they inhabited
a region which stretched from the
Great Lakes region to the Carolinas.
The Shawnee claimed to have been
responsible for preventing the Iroquois
from completing their conquest of the
Ohio Valley, and they resisted white
expansion more fiercely than any other
tribe. They threw up a great leader in
Tecumseh, who in 1811 came closer
than anyone to creating a pan-Indian
confederacy which might have slowed or
even halted the westward expansion of
the White frontier.
In their overall appearance they were
rather plain compared to the other tribes.
Men wore tanned leather breechclouts
with a short flap in front, and deerskin
leggings gartered below the knee, fringed
along the side seams and fastened to a
belt with straps. Other ornamentation was
rarely used; when it was, arrow, chevron,
and zigzag designs were preferred. The
roach was rarely worn. Men either shaved
their heads in front and attached feathers
at the back, or left the hair long and
loose. Some wrapped their long woven
sashes round their heads like turbans.
Face paint was usually red. Some of
the Perry Miniatures figures from their
American War of Independence range
which have the front of the head shaved
and the hair left long at the back, or the
large scalplocks and no roach, will do
quite well for Shawnees.
Delaware
The Leni-Lenape, as the Delaware
called themselves, were once a powerful
confederacy along the Atlantic coast.
They had an advanced culture, including
a form of picture writing, and the other
Algonquian speaking tribes regarded
them as the originators of their culture,
calling them “grandfathers”. Decimated
by disease and wars with the Europeans
and Iroquois during the 16th and 17th
centuries, they were eventually driven
first into Pennsylvania and then Ohio.
The Iroquois claimed to have defeated
them and reduced them to the status of
“women” (meaning that they surrendered
their political independence to the
League). Despite this the Delawares
were regarded as first rate woodsmen
and formidable warriors, who had a
reputation for ferocity despite mostly
being of only medium stature. In the 18th
century they were bitter enemies of the
Anglo-Americans, who took their best
lands in Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
(This was done with the permission of
the Iroquois, who did a brisk business
selling the lands of the tribes they had
supposedly conquered to the British!)
Delaware warriors wore breechclouts
with flaps in front and back, and thigh
length leggings of deerskin fastened at
the sides with thongs and gartered just
below the knees. Tanned deerskin cloaks
were worn fastened at the neck leaving
the arms free, and were sometimes draped
over one shoulder and belted. Clothing
was decorated with concentric circles or
spirals of shell beads. Winter robes of fur
(bear, wildcat, beaver, wolf and raccoon
sewn together) were also worn. Most
men wore their hair long and loose, either
with a wampum-decorated headband
or gathered at the back like a ponytail,
though some followed the dominant
fashion in the woodlands of shaving the
head and leaving a scalplock hanging
behind. Sometimes a brush of stiff hair
was left standing two to three inches high
from forehead to nape, combined with
a scalplock. Chiefs might wear a crown
of upstanding turkey feathers dyed red.
Delawares tattooed their faces and bodies
with animal figures. The face was often
painted with geometric or animal designs
in black, red, white, and yellow. Figures
are easily obtained: Conquest produce
a pack, and the Stockbridge Indians in
the Perry Miniatures range (who were
basically the same people) would also do
nicely.
Huron or Wyandot
These people were the remnants of the
Iroquoian speaking confederacies which
had been smashed by their relatives
of the Five Nations during the 17th
century. The scattered refugees reunited
in the Great Lakes region under the
name of one of their original tribes, the
Hurons, who were staunch allies of the
French. The Wyandots were a faction
of these people who emigrated to the
Sandusky region of the Ohio Valley.
The Hurons ended up in Minnesota,
and throughout the 18th century they
tried, in company with their allies the
Ottawa, to drive the Sioux from their
lands. (They were largely unsuccessful in
this, despite possessing more guns than
their enemies.) The Wyandots joined the
Delawares and Shawnees in opposing the
settlement of the Ohio Valley by Whites.
Both Wyandots and Hurons resembled
their Algonquian speaking allies in their
way of life more than they did their
Iroquoian cousins, though they were
never the woodsmen or canoemen that
the Algonquians were.
Huron and Wyandot men wore fitted
breechclouts, with flaps to mid thigh in
front and back, and thigh length leggings
tied to a belt with thongs. Sleeveless
tunics or ponchos were favoured in cooler
weather. Decoration on the clothing
consisted of bands of quillwork or moosehair embroidery in reds and browns.
Garments were sometimes painted in
floral designs, and occasionally had long
fringes attached. A variety of hair styles
were worn. These included shaved heads
with the roach; shaved heads with a tuft
left on top and a scalplock; half the head
shaved with the hair left long on the other
half; hair worn loose; or in two large rolls
over the ears with the rest of the head
shaved. A chief’s headdress was a cap of
feathers with an embroidered headband
rising to a peak at the front. Both
tribes dyed their buckskin clothing and
moccasins black. Few men were tattooed,
but faces and bodies were painted with
geometric designs or representations of
animals and humans. Black, red, green
and violet paints were most popular.
Mingo
The Mingos were a dissident Iroquois
faction who settled in the lands which the
Five Nations claimed to have conquered
from the local tribes. They usually
ignored the policies of the League, and
were generally pro-French. Their towns
often contained members of all the local
tribes, including Delawares, Wyandots,
and Shawnees. They were very bitter
against the white settlers, especially
after some of these killed Chief Logan’s
family in a very brutal manner.
Men wore tanned leather breechclouts
with rather short ends at front and
back. Knee length kilts held in place
with a belt were worn for ceremonies.
Leggings were loose and long, partially
covering the moccasins and dragging on
the ground. They were sewn up in front
with an embroidered strip covering the
seam, gartered above the knee, and rarely
OLD west
1800 - 1900
of the French. They often traded with the
British, but they were of an independent
cast of mind, and bitterly resisted the
incursions of Anglo-American settlers.
fringed. Simple mid-length tunics were
worn, made of two pieces of buckskin
fastened at the shoulders and fringed
on the bottom. Decoration was in arrow
and chevron designs, or white beadwork
in lacy patterns on a dark (often blue)
background. Heads were shaved except
for a scalplock. Many wore the roach.
Chiefs wore a gustoweh skull cap on a
frame, with overlapping layers of feathers
hanging down all round, and between one
and three feathers held upright in a bone
socket. A black rectangle or three stripes
were painted on each cheek. Many men
sported spectacular tattooing, consisting
of double-curve motifs, geometric
designs and clan crests. (All the notes
on the appearance of the Mingos apply
equally well to the Iroquois tribes of
the Five Nations - Senecas, Cayugas,
Oneidas, Onondagas and Mohawks - who
were still based in New York state. This
of course means that Iroquois figures
could be used to represent Mingos.)
The Great Lakes
The tribes living in the Great Lakes
region, north of the Ohio Valley, were
originally mostly speakers of various
Algonquian languages. They did some
farming, but mainly lived by hunting
and fishing. In the 1680s and 1690s there
was a massive invasion of the area by the
survivors of tribes broken by Iroquois
attacks. These refugees were remnants
of confederacies like the Huron, Erie,
and Neutrals, plus various Algonquin
speaking bands. They forced their way
into the Great Lakes region, slaughtering
and driving out the indigenous nations.
Eventually the French intervened.
They rallied the Great Lakes tribes, and
persuaded them to make peace with the
invaders and together turn on the Iroquois
and their British allies. Eventually a
measure of stability returned to the
region, which remained a bastion of
anti-British sentiment through Pontiac’s
rebellion in the 1760s.
Chippewa and Ojibwa
The Chippewas were a numerous tribe
of hunter-gatherers who lived between
Hudson’s Bay and the Great Lakes. They
consisted of many loosely organized
bands. Their closest relatives were the
Ottawa and the Potawatomi, and together
these peoples were known as the Three
Fires Confederacy. The western bands of
the Chippewa generally went under the
name Ojibwa, and most of the remarks
here also apply to them. The Chippewa
were formidable warriors, who more
than held their own against the Iroquois
and were a major factor in stopping their
invasion of the Great Lakes region. They
were among the staunchest allies of the
French, and frequently fought the British
and other tribes on their behalf. War
parties frequently went south against the
Catawba after those people began killing
French trappers.
Chippewa men wore breechclouts with
long flaps in front and back. Sometimes
a kilt-like garment fringed at the bottom
was worn instead. Leggings were closefitting; either gartered below the knees,
or thigh length and tied with thongs or
straps to a belt. Buckskin ponchos were
common in cool weather. Men wore their
hair loose, or occasionally braided with
a scalplock at the back; warriors liked
to stiffen this scalplock so it stood up
straight for several inches. Red, black,
green and yellow paint was used for war,
with green spots sometimes painted in an
arc across the face.
Ojibwa men favoured buckskin shirts,
embroidered and painted, with attached
scalplocks like those of the Plains tribes.
Leggings were decorated with porcupine
quillwork and moosehair embroidery. Skin
garments were frequently dyed black and
edged with short fringes. Some men wore
their hair long, hanging naturally. Others
wore it in two or four braids. Successful
warriors, in particular, shaved the head
except for a brush or roach on top and a
scalplock hanging behind. Others coiled
their braids on top of their heads and
wrapped them in bark to make them stand
erect. Hair could be painted with red or
yellow paint. Ojibwa moccasins were
often dyed black. Faces and bodies were
painted in dots, bars, patches and other
simple designs using red ochre and black
charcoal or soot. Men were extensively
tattooed, and their bodies were often
covered with various designs.
Fox
The Fox were an Algonquian speaking
people who may have originally come
from the Michigan Peninsula. They
were part of the confederacy known as
the Fire Nation, which also included the
Sac, Kickapoo and Mascouten who had
been driven into Wisconsin during the
invasions of the Great Lakes region by
the refugees fleeing from the Iroquois.
The Fox were especially formidable
fighters, but in the 18th century they
unwisely chose to single-handedly
oppose the French, while simultaneously
alienating most of their neighbours. This
resulted in the near destruction of the
Fox Nation. The remnants were taken in
by the Sacs and incorporated into what
became known as the Sac (or Sauk) and
Fox Nation.
Fox men wore breechclout and moccasins
in summer, with thigh length leggings
and a shirt added in winter. Leggings had
fringes at the sides, and large pointed
flaps at the bottom which covered most
of the foot. They were seamed up the
front and sometimes had garters of fur.
Garments were lavishly decorated with
geometric quillwork and, later in the
period, floral and traditional moosehair
embroidery. This decoration was much
more elaborate than among the allied Sac.
Clothing could also be painted in bright
hues in solids and stripes, or figures and
designs like those of the Miami. The
roach hairstyle was almost universal,
though there was one section of the tribe
who wore their hair long and loose.
Other men shaved the head, leaving a tuft
running from front to back or side to side,
and a scalplock hanging from the crown.
The tuft was sometimes shaved, leaving
just the scalplock and roach, and the top
part of the shaved skull was then painted
red. Some Fox warriors wore a turban
made of otter fur, and a few sported
buffalo horn headdresses captured from
enemies like the Sioux and Iowa. They
liked red and black pigments, and some
chiefs illustrated by a European artist
had their faces painted blue. Yellow, red
and black stripes could be painted on the
lower half of the face. Among the Fox
and the Sac, hands painted on the body
denoted an enemy killed in hand to hand
combat. Sac and Fox figures are available
in the Conquest range.
Sac
Closely related to the Fox and Kickapoo,
the Sac were allies of the French. They
moved south into the territory of the
Illinois Confederacy in the 18th century,
occupying the area around the Rock
and Mississippi Rivers. Sac men wore
the usual breechclout and moccasins in
summer, with a robe added in winter. The
breechclouts, usually painted red, were of
the fitted type without flaps. Hip length
leggings of deer or elk skin were also
worn. These were whitened with clay and
decorated with porcupine quillwork and
fringes at the sides. Geometric quillwork
and abstract floral moosehair embroidery
were used for decoration. Hairstyles and
headdresses were similar to those of the
Fox. For painting the face and body,
white and black pigments were favoured,
with the eyes often rimmed in red paint.
White stripes were sometimes painted
round the arms and legs.
Ottawa
The Ottawa lived too far north for
agriculture, their land was poor in the
wild rice so abundant in the land of
the Chippewas, and there were few fur
bearing animals in their country. So they
had little choice but to become traders.
This honed their diplomatic skills,
and they eventually produced one of
the greatest Native American leaders,
Pontiac, who led a great revolt against
the British in 1763. The Ottawas had a
reputation for cunning, treachery and
cruelty, but proved loyal to the French,
and became the nucleus of anti-British
hostility after the French and Indian War.
The French often remarked on the
prevalence of nudity among the Ottawas.
Men usually wore only a robe and
moccasins, though sometimes a fitted
leather breechclout was seen with
flaps in front and back, decorated with
quillwork. Leggings, when worn, were
simple thigh length tubes of hide, fringed
on the outside seams and gartered just
below the knees. Some men favoured
the roach, but the head was more often
shaved except for a scalplock hanging
from the crown, and a central tuft running
front to back and decreasing in height
towards the back. Hair could also be
worn in two or four braids sometimes
wrapped in fur or thongs. Yet others
allowed the hair to hang loose or shaved
it all except for a tuft at the crown. Men
were commonly tattooed with designs
including lizards, snakes, and geometrical
figures, sometimes covering the entire
body. The face and body were painted in
red, brown, green and black.
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi were close relatives of
the Chippewa and Ottawa. They wore
tanned leather breechclouts with quillwork
bands at the bottom, and flaps hanging
down to the knees at front and back.
Leggings were deerskin, thigh length,
fringed down the side seams and gartered
below the knees. Unseamed pieces of
tanned skin were worn for shirts. The
Potawatomi decorated these garments with
quillwork in geometric designs, and with
dyed moosehair in modified floral patterns.
Warriors generally shaved their heads
and wore the roach. The most common
style was a tuft of hair from front to back
with a scalplock hanging down; a single
eagle feather was often added at the back.
Warriors painted their faces red and black,
the upper face frequently being all black,
and the eyes ringed in red and/or black.
Winnebago
The Winnebago were a Siouan speaking
tribe from Wisconsin. Early traditions
connect the Winnebagos with the
northernmost Mound Builder centre
of Azatalan. Perhaps because of this
exalted ancestry they were said to be
haughty and arrogant, looking down
on the surrounding tribes as inferior.
They also had a reputation for treachery
and cannibalism. The Winnebagos
occasionally sent warriors to help the
French, but mostly they stayed neutral.
They wore breechclouts consisting of
an underpiece and two separate
apron flaps, or a long, single
piece of material ending in
flaps. These were of elk or
deerskin, painted red or black.
Leggings were also made of elk or deer
hide. They were usually knee length
and gartered below the knees. In cooler
weather a poncho type shirt reaching to
the hips was worn. Shirts and leggings
had short fringes. Men wore their hair
either in two braids, or just clumped on
either side and fastened with thongs.
A few men wore the roach for war,
usually with a roach spreader and one
or two feathers inserted in a swiveling
socket. Headdresses made of rawhide
with buffalo horns and grizzly-bear
claws could also be worn. Warriors
painted their faces and bodies red, black
or green. A hand painted on the face or
breast signified a man who had killed an
enemy, and men who had gone on the
warpath in winter commemorated this
feat by painting their legs white.
The Southeast
South of the Ohio Valley, and stretching
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic,
was a region inhabited by some of the
most advanced tribes in North America
- so much so that they later became
known as the Five Civilized tribes.
Despite this the Southeastern peoples
were extremely warlike, and bitterly
resisted both the incursions of the
Iroquois from the north and the advance
of White settlement.
Catawba
The Catawba were one of a number
of Siouan-speaking tribes inhabiting
the Carolina Piedmont country, east of
the Appalachians. During the late 17th
century they absorbed other tribes which
had been weakened by the English
colonists and the diseases they had
brought with them, so that by the early
18th century they were an agglomeration
of many different nations, and a variety
of languages could be heard in the
Catawba towns. They allied themselves
closely to the colony of South Carolina,
and fought loyally for the British
throughout the Colonial Wars. They
helped the British destroy French posts
along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and
the French responded by embroiling
their Great Lakes allies in constant wars
with the Catawba. The Iroquois also
raided as far south as the Carolinas, and
a bitter and protracted war broke out
between the League and the Catawbas,
who stubbornly refused to be beaten
into submission. This situation was
much to the discomfiture of the British,
who relied on both tribes as allies. The
Catawbas were ferocious warriors with
a fearsome reputation. Early in the 18th
century they helped South Carolina
destroy the Tuscaroras, and drove the
remnants north to become the Sixth
Nation of the Iroquois. They also fought
the Cherokees, Delawares and Shawnees
- driving several bands of the latter
from North Carolina into Pennsylvania.
However constant warfare and disease
steadily reduced their numbers as the
18th century wore on.
Already by the early 18th century the
Catawbas had long been under British
influence. While buckskin garments
were still seen, most men wore muslin,
calico or linen. Breechclouts and
leggings were often made of red or
blue wool strouding. Shirts might
be decorated with complex patterns.
Unlike their neighbours Catawba men
wore their hair long, often pulled back
into a ponytail style. The roach was
apparently not worn, but some chiefs
wore headdresses of upstanding turkey
feathers. One of the most distinctive
features of their appearance was
the practice of cranial deformation,
which led their enemies to call them
“flatheads” - though this custom had
probably died out by the mid 18th
century. Moccasins were worn on the
war trail, although the men often went
barefoot at home. The Catawba had a
very distinctive style of war paint: the
lower face was black or red, with a
white circle around one eye and a black
circle around the other. Combined with
their deformed skulls the effect must
have been terrifying. Ignoring the
“flat heads”, the Conquest Delaware
figures with clothing painted as cloth
instead of buckskin would make
excellent Catawbas.
Cherokee
The Cherokee were the southernmost
of the Iroquoian speaking tribes. Like
their Iroquoian cousins they were very
warlike, though they fared poorly
against both the Catawbas and the
Chickasaws. Conflict with their cousins
of the Five Nations was common, with
the Iroquois usually the aggressors.
The Cherokees often responded to an
Iroquois raid by sending one warrior
north single-handed to collect a scalp.
Cherokees and Shawnees also fought
constantly, and the honours were about
even. The formidable warriors of the
Chickasaw, Catawba and Shawnee
aside, the Cherokee more than held
their own against other Indian enemies.
They usually sided with the British,
but early in the 19th century it became
apparent that the Americans were now
too powerful to be resisted, and they
reluctantly agreed to be moved west.
Skin breechclouts of the apron type were
universal. Knee length leggings could
also be worn, and in cooler weather a
light skin poncho. From the middle of
the 18th century European style cloth
shirts became available. Quillwork was
rare, but some floral beadwork was done
on pouches and shoulder bags, with
circular motifs being the most popular.
Men shaved their heads except for a
roach running from front to back on
top of the head, often with a fringe of
hair along the forehead. The roach was
frequently augmented by opossum or
deer hair dyed red or yellow. Symbols
such as flowers, animals and stars were
tattooed on the arms, torso, and thighs.
Warriors used red paint to signify
success, blue for trouble or defeat,
black for death, and white for peace and
happiness. Red and black were therefore
the most popular war colours.
Chickasaw
If the Great Lakes was a French
stronghold, the Southeast was a British
one. Probably the most formidable allies
the British had in the region were the
Chickasaws. They were closely related
to the Choctaws, and both tribes have
a tradition of having been originally
one people. Despite this, by the 18th
Century they were bitter enemies, the
Choctaws being the main French allies
in the Southeast. The Chickasaws fought
no fewer than five wars against the
French and whipped them every time.
They also fought and beat virtually
every other tribe within reach of them
- particularly the Illinois Confederacy,
the Shawnees and the Cherokees. In fact
the Chickasaws - who became known as
“the unconquered and unconquerable”
- never lost a war in their recorded
history, and kept their record perfect by
packing up and migrating to the west
in the 1830s when it became apparent
that the Whites were too strong for
them. Like their Creek cousins they
were Muskhogean speakers who divided
their tribe into two clans, or moieties
- the White (or peace) and Red (or
war), who occupied separate Red and
White towns. Some scholars think the
Chickasaws may have originally been
the Red moiety of the larger ChoctawChickasaw tribe, which might account
for their extreme proficiency in war.
Deerskin breechclouts were universally
worn. In cooler weather a light skin
poncho was popular, and from the
middle of the 18th century cloth shirts
were often seen. Men shaved their heads
except for a roach from front to back
on top of the head, often with a fringe
of hair along the forehead. They would
fasten feathers, the skin of a hawk, or a
red bird’s wing to this scalplock. At the
crown of the head a large conch-shell
bead was sometimes fixed. A skein of
threads might be wrapped around the
head, with the ends hanging down like
tassels. Like other Southeastern tribes
the Chickasaw often went barefoot. Red,
yellow and white paints were used. War
captains were extensively tattooed with
figures of serpents and similar motifs.
Choctaw
Less warlike and more easygoing than
their Chickasaw cousins, the Choctaws
were nonetheless respected warriors.
They were a numerous people and
absorbed remnants of the Natchez,
Tunica, Atakapa, and other Mississippi
and Louisiana tribes after these were
shattered by smallpox and wars with
the French in the first quarter of the
18th century. Despite this the Choctaws
were staunch allies of the French, and
remained loyal to them until the end.
Breechclouts were simple fitted affairs
of blue strouding with front and back
flaps. Leggings were seldom worn.
From the mid-18th century cloth
shirts were widespread. Men wore
their hair long and ornamented it with
colourful feathers. The roach was worn
in a distinctive style, consisting of an
upright fringe on top, which widened
at the back to cover the lower part
of the head and the back of the neck.
Deerskin moccasins decorated with
beads and feathers were worn, though
it was common to go barefoot. Like
the Catawba, the Choctaw were said to
practice head flattening. Tattooing was
far less common than it was among the
Chickasaw or Cherokee, but the men
painted themselves with designs of suns,
swastikas and serpents.
Creek
The Creeks were related to the
Choctaws and Chickasaws. They
were not a single tribe, but rather a
confederacy which had absorbed a
number of tribes in the Southeast. Their
name comes from the fact that many
of their towns were located near the
tributaries of rivers. Highly organised
into White (peace) towns and Red (war)
towns under powerful chiefs, the Creeks
were less individualistic than most other
tribes in the Eastern Woodlands. They
were staunch British allies, but they
warred among themselves at times, and
also against the Cherokees.
Fitted breechclouts hanging down in
front and behind were worn. Leather
leggings were dyed black, laced with
white thongs, and bordered with fringes
of coloured leather. Men wore the roach
on the front of the head with a braid on
each side, and a scalplock pulled back
through a hair tube hanging behind.
Another kind of roach like those of the
Choctaw, which widened at the back
of the head, was sometimes seen. A
tonsure like a monk’s, with a fringe all
around the head, was also worn by some
warriors. Moccasins, when worn, were
made from bison or deer hide. Creek
warriors extensively tattooed themselves
with stars, crescents, scrolls, flowers,
animals and sun designs, usually placed
in the center of the chest. The head,
neck and breast were often painted
vermillion.
Note: By the early 19th century all
the tribes discussed were wearing a
lot of cloth manufactured in England
or America, mainly calicoes and red
or blue strouding. At this period cloth
sashes were often worn around the head
like a turban.
Useful Sources
Paterek, Josephine, Encyclopedia
of American Indian Costume, W.W.
Norton, New York, 1994.
Hyde, George E., Indians of the
Woodlands From Prehistoric Times to
1725, Norman, Oklahoma 1962.
Woodland Longhouses
I always make sure that the twigs are
well dried and always remove the bark
with rough sandpaper. Well, with that
being said we can move on to the actual
conversion work.
This past summer I designed two
Woodland Indian Longhouse
masters for Conquest Miniatures’
500 Nations Range of Woodland
Native Americans. Eric Roof,
the proprietor of Conquest
Miniatures, talked with me about
doing some conversions to the
resin reproductions of the two
longhouses; the point of this
exercise being to show gamers
how to create variants for a
Woodland Indian village, using
only two different resin castings.
I drilled holes into the base for the main
supports and the effigy or scalp pole.
I will discuss the effigy pole in more
detail later. I cut eight pieces of twig
1 3⁄4’’ long and glued them into the
previously drilled holes. I next cut four
3 1⁄2’’ long pieces for the horizontal
entry supports and attached them to
the vertical supports. The screening
was made from 1⁄16’’ diameter basket
weaving reed, cut into 1 3⁄8’’ long pieces
and glued to the horizontal supports.
Words & pictures by Herb Gundt
I decided to make the Large Longhouse
(#500-100) into, what I call, a council
house. I wanted to add a screened
awning to both the front and back
entries. I started the project by cutting
a 1⁄8’’ hardboard base that was large
enough to accommodate the extended
entry areas. I opted to use maple and
oak twigs for most of the new model
carpentry, since wood doweling is just
too uniform for this project. I’ve been
collecting maple and oak twigs for
years, mainly when I was out mowing
my lawn, because they are handy to
have around when doing model work.
I fabricated the effigy pole from a 4’’
long twig, a 1’’ long reed, two pieces
of twine and some thread. I glued the
reed crosswise onto the twig and then
wrapped thread around both pieces to
represent binding. I glued a section of
twine to the top of each side of the reed
cross piece, wrapped the twine around
the reed and tied it off with thread. I
used a toothpick to tease out the twine,
coated the twine with white glue and
water and attached the effigy pole to
the base.
I used 1⁄16’’ thick card and tree wrap
to make the roofs. Tree Wrap is used
by gardeners and is a material that
comes on a 3’’ wide roll and resembles
heavy crepe paper. The tree wrap was
cut into random sized pieces and glued
to the card roof. This is a good place to
pause on the description of the larger
model and move on to the smaller
longhouse conversion.
I wanted to use the Small Longhouse
(#500-99) to make a Jesuit mission.
Once again I cut a base large enough
to accommodate two covered entries
and, in the case of the mission, a bell
on a timber frame.
I made the entry walls, for the Mission,
by gluing six pieces of twig together for
each wall. Once the wall sections were
dry, I cut the roof slope of the walls with
a dremel tool and then glued the walls to
the model. The mission roofs were made
using the same technique as with the
council house roofs.
The two vertical supports of the bell
frame were made from three pieces, with
the outer logs being 1 1⁄4’’ tall and the
center log an eighth of an inch shorter.
The two assemblies were then glued to
the base 7⁄8’’ apart from each other. The
horizontal bell support was cut 1 1⁄4’’
long, with a hole drilled in the center
for the bell and another drilled on one
end for a handle. The handle was made
from a piece of wire that was cut 3⁄4’’
long and glued to the end of the support.
The brass holiday bell was next attached
to the support and thread was wrapped
around the bell, support and handle to
once again represent binding.
The cross was made from two pieces of
reed that were glued together and then
bound with thread. A hole was drilled in
the front upper center of the longhouse
and the completed cross glued in place.
I used dark olive drab as a base color for
all of the various pieces, although dark
brown would be a good color choice for
variation. Everything was dry-brushed
with raw sienna, barn gray and gray. The
bell was painted dark brown and then
dry-brushed with bronze and aged brass.
The “scalps” hanging on the effigy pole
were painted dark brown and black.
After all of the painting was complete,
I glued the longhouses to their bases
and then glued all of the roofs and bell
into place. I used earth tone chalks to
further highlight the buildings. I planted
green twine, around the perimeters of
the models, using white glue to keep the
twine in place. With the white glue dry,
I applied dirt flocking to the bases and
then followed that with an application of
green flocking. The green twine weeds
were teased apart with a toothpick and
then dry-brushed with leaf green and
yellow ochre. I allowed the models to
completely dry for 24 hours and then
gave them a finish of Dull Cote to lock
in the chalk finish.
Useful information
Conquest Miniatures
www.conquestminiatures.com
Sketch Book 56 Volume 6
Indian Allies by Ted Spring
The Art of Robert Griffing
text by George Irvin
American Woodland Islands
text by Michael G. Johnson
Tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy
text by Michael Johnson
Tuttle Tree Wrap Drainage Industries, 300
N. Lilas Drive, Appleton, WI 54915