The Puyallup & Nisqually tribes were very resourceful and innovative people
when it came to making clothing out of the materials available to them. The
soft inner bark of the red cedar provided clothing for them and was used from
the time they were born, until they were buried. The inner bark was stripped
carefully from the trees and was cut into fine shreds or dried in long strips.
It was soaked, steamed, stretched or dried.
The strips were used to hold a baby in place on its craddle board and fluffy strands of cedar bark kept it snug and warm. With the baby safely on the mother's back in a cradle board, her hands were free to do her work and protect the baby.
Trees also provided clothing for grown-ups. Cedar bark was woven into robes, capes, hats and skirts. Everyone in the family - the native men, women and children - had raincapes of twisted cedar bark; and there were several good reasons. Strips of cedar bark were easily woven into capes or ponchos and could be qucikly slipped around the shoulders. It was also light weight. But most of all, cedar was waterproof and kept them from getting soaked in the rain! Animal furs and skins were also made into capes and skirts. The Nisqually wore a breech clout of buckskin all year. The breech clout was a strip of soft tanned skin worn between the legs and was fastened at the waist with a belt. Buckskin shirts were worn in the winter and when hunting in the woods. Instead of shoes, the Puyallup and Nisqually wore moccasins of deerskin or elkskin that were tied at the ankle with a strap.
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