““Practically all of the Indian tribes wore some form of shirt. This garment is usually mistakenly called a “war shirt.” In reality it was a ceremonial shirt usually worn by the older men or chiefs of authority on solemn occasions. The Dakotas and Cheyennes trimmed their shirts with small hanks of horsehair. Sometimes human hair was used. These shirts were called “scalp shirts” by the white man who believed that all of the hair decorations were from scalp locks. The Blackfoot and some of the other tribes decorated their shirts with strips of white weasel skin. Indians on the warpath did not wear shirts. They wore only a breechclout, leggings, and moccasins. War shirts were not worn for active dancing, either, because they were too hot. Indians made their shirts out of soft buckskin. It usually took two hides for one shirt. Sometimes an additional hide was required for the sleeves.””
