For your consideration is a pair of Blackfeet / Blackfoot Native American Indian Beaded and Painted Hide Hand-cut Fringe Tubular Leggings, circa early to mid-1900s, bowed Plains Indian style, with fringes on the outer seams and beaded designed panels on the front. The Blackfeet Nation officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana. Tribal members primarily belong to the Piegan Blackfeet (Ampskapi Piikani) band of the larger Blackfoot Confederacy that spans Canada and the United States. Originally from the woodlands north and west of the Great Lakes, they were driven from that region by English traders and the local Algonquin-speaking tribes and settled into the Northern Plains. With the acquisition of both firearms and horses, the Blackfeet became a formidable example of the classic Plains Indian culture. Native American men often wore leggings to protect their legs. These Blackfeet leggings are tube-like footless pant legs, usually made from buckskin or other soft leather. They are not connected to each other--there is one separate legging for each leg. Both leggings are tied onto the same belt that holds the breechcloth with thongs that attach at the hip. Legging styles varied from tribe to tribe. Sometimes they were fringed, like these. Sometimes they were painted with colorful patterns or decorated with beadwork or quillwork designs. War honors were also displayed by a series of horizontal stripes, usually black or blue on both leggings. Each stripe accounted for a war or horse raid, the larger stripes usually being associated with a war record. These leggings have twenty stripes on each leg. Many Indian men tied garters (straps, thongs, or bandana-like cloths) around their leggings at the knee to help keep them in place. Utilizing black and white trade and seed beads, the hide panels measure 3"W x 20"L, natural clay earth pigments were used to decorate the leggings, a center red trade cloth medallion separating trade and seed bead sections. measure 7"W at the narrowest, 16"W at the widest; 31"L with fringe measuring 16"L