Tribal

I became really inspired by my previous 'Feather' post, and wanted to look further into tribal fashion.

Native American tribes have used body paint since 10,000 B.C.E. , both to psychologically prepare for war as well as for visual purposes. Two major ingredients in body paint were charcoal and ocher, a reddish clay. Other natural ingredients, including bird excrement, plant leaves, and fruits, were mixed with animal fat and hot water. Tree branches and animal bones were used as paint-brushes. Indians painted in various shapes, often stripes, circles, triangles, and dots. Colour was used symbolically, black was used for someone who had peformed heroically, and white for mourning. Red paint signifies blood, green colours painted close to the eye helps someone see better at night, and yellow is the colour of death.



Jewelry was used for pagan rituals, to honor a particular deity, or as an offering in sacrificial ceremonies; though sometimes, jewelry is used for nothing more that simple beautification. In the tribal world, a "fetish" is any object, be it natural or man-made, that is believed to have supernatural powers, or power over others. Ritual scarring, or "fetishist scarification" and body modification (such as long neck women) was, and still is popular with various South and West African fetish-worshipping tribes such as the Diola.

Here is a collection of tribal photographs that I'm inspired by.