What clothing and decorations did Miwoks and Ohlones wear in the 1800s?

The clothing and decorations the indigenous people wore were all from nature— furs, grasses, shells, feathers, and even bear claws. Some California Native American customs and apparel have been preserved . A few years ago I watched Miwok and Pomo men, women, and children dance to drum music wearing beaded necklaces, feathers, and headdresses made of feather quills similar to those shown in a painting by Louis Choris, a French painter. The headbands were made with flicker feather quills sewn on strips of leather. Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a black feather bib and orange and black tail feathers. In the West, their tail feathers have reddish-orange shafts ending in black tips. The photograph shows two feathers I found in my garden. The bottom feather is from a flicker’s tail.

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