Haudenosaunee

CLOTHING & OTHER CULTURAL ITEMS

Mohawk * Oneida * Onondaga * Cayuga * Seneca * Tuscarora

Women's Headwear

Written by Kanatiiosh

Headwear

Haudenosaunee women wear many types of headwear.  They might wear a simple braided leather headband that works to hold back their long hair, which might get in the way as they worked, or they may wear an elaborate tiara like crown. These headbands are strikingly beautiful. 

To create the headband cloth, either velvet, wool, or broadcloth is beaded onto a stiffer backing. The beaded cloth is then attached to either leather or cloth. These layers are sewn together. Then it is  edged with glass seed beads, which completes the headband.

 In the pictures above, the Haudenosaunee women are wearing tiara-like headwear.  These headbands take a long time to make because the entire front and side of the band is beaded.  Usually the women use size 10 glass seed beads, which are not tiny but they are small.   

 Haudenosaunee women also wear leather headbands.  These leather bands could also be decorated with Iroquois symbols like the Celestial Sky or woodland designs.