Contriving footwear Part 3

High moccasins rarely used a front lacing unless it was covered with a spat type wrap. Front laced high moccasins would allow snow and wind to penetrate chilling the skin. Side lacing was the preferred method of drawing the moccasins tight around the leg. The leggings were stuffed into the high moccasins and then laced.

If the weather was especially frigid or there was a lot of snow, an outer “boot” was made. These were usually made from a small animal. A simple sock type design pulled over the high moccasins and tied below the knee. The larger surface allowed for better walking on the snow preventing one from sinking into it. They lived close to nature and developed ways of surviving harsh winters.

Just remember that one of the skills that could be invaluable in the future is the ability to tan hides. Without commercial production of shoes and many other items we take for granted now, having a material like leather will make life much easier.

For more information on how to tan hides, without the chemicals used today and unavailable tomorrow, check out “Raising Rabbits for Meat”. Not only will you learn how to raise rabbits to feed your family, you will learn how to use the brains of almost any animal to tan it’s own skin (with the exception of the cow).

Contriving footwear Part 2

Both genders wore leggings, usually made of fur lined thick leather. If you were a female you wore a thick leather skirt on top. You would then slip into your high moccasins. High moccasins were modified versions of the style of moccasins worn by any particular tribe.

All tribes had some form of winter moccasins that were adaptations of their summer ones. Tall sides were added, some extended the fold over collar to become sides and some just fashioned a type of spat. All of these were insulated inside and on the sole.

Soles were also modified, much like a Duck shoe, a thicker and occasionally rawhide sole would be used. These soles were dipped in goose grease, tallow, beeswax or bear fat to provide waterproofing. While the inner sole was still warm insulating materials would be added. Most tribes used either duck or goose down, felted animal hair, and animal fur. Some tribes used down from plants like Milkweed and Cattails. Some tribes would weave grasses and place these inner soles between the layers of insulation. (Learn other uses for common plants from the “Coast to Coast Survival Plants” ebook

Once completed the high moccasin’s seams were coated with a waterproofing such as tallow, beeswax or bear grease. The moccasin was placed near the fire to allow the material to seep deeply into the seam. There is a trick using heat on leather. Many times I have seen winter moccasins passed on to another because they were placed too close to a hot fire which caused the leather to shrink.