basic Ohio style mocs(Wyandot/Shawnee/Delaware)

[richardzane]

here's a recent pair of mocs I made in honoring my Wyandot ancestors of the Ohio era 1700-1800s
but these are from a commercial tanned elk hide("cheeto yellow") a hide my son in law gave me from one of his hunts.
and they are stitched with artificial sinew. I had to sand away some of the thickness to get the pucker to pucker!
you can see how the stitches are hidden to keep from wearing out. a "baseball stitch" on the instep and on the heel.
(Richard Zane Smith)
Sohahiyoh ,Bear Clan

[PrimitiveTim]

Ugh, all you guys turning out such nice moccasins is making me really want to give this a try.  I'll focus on getting some skins first though. lol

[richardzane]

the nice thing about this style moc, (rahshu' ) is that its one piece and once you get your pattern adjusted right
you can cut it out of cardboard and stash it some place handy till when a pair wears out.
Our cousin nation in Quebec , the Wendat use a vamp in their mocs, and traditionally on black buckskin.
they pulled their puckers amazingly tight as you can see.

[tipi stuff]

Nice pair! I've made lots of hard soles and side seams, but I've never made this style. Yours came out great!

[BowEd]

Very nice pair & example of an eastern style of mocccasin.You bet about your patterns etc.They are really comfortable to wear for sure.I've put inserts of sheepskin inside too yet for a little more stability.You can sure feel the ground as you walk with those.

[richardzane]

thanks! ONE of these days I'll get around to beading ankle flaps and create a sew-on vamp.
Some were made so that when soles wore out, you could cut em loose
and transfer the quilled or beaded flaps and vamps onto a new pair. We went through LOTS of moccasins
hunting, fighting Brits or Americans....why waste a womans painstaking sewing of distinction and beauty?
maybe it was like carrying a pic of your sweetheart to battle to remind you why you were fighting.

[Buffalogobbler]

Beautiful job!
They look very comfortable.

Kevin

[primitivepaulette]

Nice job on the mocs Richard. They are beautiful and look like they'd feel amazing on the feet!

[richardzane]

thanks! they're pretty comfy, the thick elk hide adds a little extra padding to "shoe-spoiled" feet

[IsaacW]

Nice job!

[primitivepaulette]

The Wendat mocs you posted sure are exquisite. Not sure what I am looking at. Quills or moose haired embroidery? The might logically be moose skin too, right? They are truly lovely to look at. What incredible work. 
Thx for posting these.

[richardzane]

thanks Paulette,
thats a good question ...about these i'm not sure if its fine quill or moose hair embroidery or a combination?
I saw some amazing pieces when in Quebec visiting our Wendat cousins (formally called the Huron of Lorette)
saw a deerskin long coat made in the style of european fashion in the 1800s and it had these amazing leaf designs on it.
The moose hair being hollow and also shading from dark to light, acts just like tiny quills. when its dyed you get this amazing "shaded" 3D look.
As far as I know the Wendat don't do the same kind of tight embroidery anymore,
but they do make a "rosette" from moose hair that they add to moccasins.

[IndianGuy]

very nice, very traditional, I think a build along is in order?

[Fred Arnold]

Those are nice!!! I'd also like to see a build along and see your pattern. I have some elk hide and buffalo hide that I'd like to use for a couple pair.

[Dharma]

Nice! The mocs here have hard-soles made from rawhide and the soles are white. The soles are hard to turn cactus needles and sharp rocks. Some call them Kaibab moccasins but a Navajo moccasin maker assured me this was a trade name and not what they really called them.