Native American Regalia
The Native American people had many different spiritual rituals and ceremonies and many of these traditional events were times when they would dress up in ceremonial Native American regalia. The majority of the Native American regalia were masks that were carved out of wood and many times they depicted gods and spirits. Sometimes the masks would be representations of animals that were thought to be sacred by many Native American Indian tribes.
The Native American regalia were usually very colorful and would be adorned with various feathers and beads, to the American Indian tribes these were more than just regalia though, they were representations of their deities and the ceremonies were traditional at certain times every year. One of the festivals that were held by many Native American tribes was a kind of harvest festival, when they would harvest all their winter supplies they would then feast. There are still thousands of Natives that live throughout the country on the many Indian reservations and many still follow the traditional ways and perform the customary rituals. On some reservations and even some museums you can see reenactments of some of these ceremonies where they wore Native American regalia and masks.
Native American regalia have also become a favorite children’s Halloween costume, even though some people might find these regalia offensive they are still quite popular and really just an innocent costume rather than a stereotype many people see the Native American regalia as. There were many schools and universities that had mascots that were Native American Indians but many have since changed their names and mascots in order to be more politically correct and not offend anyone that has Native American roots. One school that was able to maintain the American Indian mascot is Florida State University, and the Seminole Indians are honored and have approved of the mascot depicting a Seminole Indian, and the Seminole Indians are a Native tribe to the state of Florida. During Halloween you can find many different types of Native American style regalia depicting different tribes and their clothing and traditions, and you are bound to see many Indian regalia on children for years to come.