Hair Pipe Breastplates Facts and information about the History of Clothing and regalia of Native American Indians and their Hair Pipe Breastplates. The adornment known as a Hair Pipe Breastplate is a familiar item worn by Native Americans. Hair pipe breastplates were invented by the Comanche in the 1850's and was adopted by many other tribes of the Great Plains including the Crow, Sioux and Assiniboine tribes. The term 'Hair Pipe' is used as the name for long, slim, hollow, cylindrical beads that were used as hair decorations, chokers and breastplates. Hair pipe breastplates were made by stringing rows of the long beads on buckskin cords to form an elaborate breastplate.
Native American Clothing - Hair Pipe Breastplates The history of traditional or ceremonial dress and regalia worn by Native American Indians is a fascinating subject. The following fact sheet contains interesting facts and information on Hair Pipe Breastplates.
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact Sheet for kids
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 1: The Native American fashion for wearing this type of breastplate originated by accident and by the Native Indians determination never to waste any item.
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 2: Cheap pipes with their bowls made from corn cobs and stems with a thin hollow stem originally made from bone (Corn Cob Pipes) were trade items which, along with many other items, were traded by white traders for deerskins
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 3: Native Americans began to use the long, hollow stem of the pipes as beads
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 4: Great Plains Indian women wore their hair in two, thick braids which they decorated with beads. They began to use the hollow pipe stems as another available type of hair adornment
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 5: The use of the stems of Corn Cob Pipes as hair decorations led to the origin of the name "Hair Pipes"
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 6: Ingenious use of the stems as a type of bead led to the development of other ornaments such as chokers worn by the Osage and Otoe tribes and the famous breastplates worn by the Native American who inhabited the Great Plains including the Kiowa, Sioux, Crow and Assiniboine tribes.
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 7: Hair pipe breastplates were made by stringing rows of the long beads on buckskin cords to form an elaborate and highly distinctive breastplate
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact Sheet for kids
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 8: A breastplate was secured by cordage, sinew or leather and hung over the head like a necklace
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 9: The distinctive adornments came in different styles with rows of different sized beads threaded horizontally, vertically and diagonally
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 10: Patterns were made using colored beads as spacers and other ornaments such as fringes, brass and glass beads, shells and ribbons were added
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 11: The size of each breastplate varied enormously according to the number of beads used in each row and the number of rows. The bottom of the breastplate ended above the waist
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 12: Tribes such as the Cherokee and Chippewa used a should bag called a Bandolier which were also decorated with hairpipe beads
Hair Pipe Breastplates Fact 13: In the 1990 movie 'Dances with Wolves' a hair pipe breastplate was used in a trade exchange between the hero and his friend 'Wind In His Hair'.
Native American Clothing - Hair Pipe Breastplates
Pipe Breastplates - Native Americans for kids
History of Native Indian Clothing
Interesting facts and info about Pipe Breastplates for kids and schools
Information about Pipe Breastplates and Native American Indians
Native American Clothing - Hair Pipe Breastplates for kids
