Leather Covered Lessons

CULTURAL ARTIFACT

Makita Keel

Les Brown

Monarch, Ut

July 2013

Leather Covered Lessons

Genre:

Tradition and History

Informant (who):

The "informant" is your source, your traditional colleague, who passes a cultural artifact to you for collecting and preserving. Tell us about this person, including information such as the following:

·         Les Brown

·         Born and raised in Roosevelt, Ut

·         Caucasian Male

·         Farmer

·         Farming

·         Grandfather

Text:

I received leather moccasins from my grandfather. The moccasins are tall and the top of them are covered in hanging leather. It is made up of two different shades of leather, a darker leather and a lighter, almost yellow leather. They are both handmade and hand stitched.

Context (where):

            I received this item after attending one of our annual rendezvous trips. Our family tries to go to a rendezvous every year because that is what they have always done. My mom and her family used to dress up and go to the real ones. It keeps me in touch with my past and the way things used to be back in the Mountain Man days. That part of history intrigues me. The native people and those who used to spend a lot of time in the mountains used to wear moccasins. One reason is because they are warm and another because they are quiet when stalking game animals. You can see them now a lot a rendezvous where people still dress up in hand made clothing, a lot of handmade leather.

Texture (how):

Moccasins were originally created by the native people. The natives made all of their things by hand because that was all they had. They used leather because it was warm and could also keep you cool and they had access to it from the game animals that they had harvested. Moccasins were important because without them the feet of many people would have been mutilated. Moccasins were worn year round. I find it interesting that they aren't still used with archery hunters because from a personal point of view they are really comfortable and much quieter than regular heavy shoes.

Meaning:

This artifact means a lot to me because it keeps me in touch with my family and my past. It is something that we all enjoy doing as a family and I get to learn a lot about a subject that I am interested in. I also like the look of the old leather clothes and dresses, I think they are beautiful. My family thinks it is great that I am so into these kinds of things. Occasionally they tease me when I wear the moccasins around the house but it’s all in good fun. I like them and think that they are comfortable. My mom especially takes pride in it because she used to wear them when she was a kid too and has many good memories of going to rendezvous. She hopes to pass on the same great memories to me.