Generally, tribal elders wore different paints than their inferiors. Louis Capron observed in the National Geographic Magazine article " Florida's 'Wild' Indians, the Seminole" that for the Seminoles, red paint "signifies blood," green paint near the eyes helps a person "see better at night," and yellow paint is "the color of death" and "means a man has lived his life and will fight to the finish." The Catawbas of the Southeast painted one eye in a white circle and another eye in a black circle. Indians used war paint to rally themselves for battle and frighten enemies, in the way sports teams wear the same uniforms. Similarly, the Teton Sioux of the Plains used black paint for victory and white for mourning. Historian Karl Gr öning observed in Body Decoration: A World Survey of Body Art that "The combination of colour and motif was very important to the individual, who saw it as his 'medicine', his personal tutelary spirit." In the Blackfoot tribe of the Plains, for example, warriors who had performed heroically had their faces painted black. Other colors were also used and when Europeans and Americans opened trading posts in the nineteenth century, they introduced more colors for paints.Ĭolors had specific connotations for Indians. Some theorize that this appearance is what led to the general derogatory term "redskin" for Native Americans. The Beothuks of what is now Canada, for example, painted their entire bodies red to protect themselves from insects. Given the high availability of red ochre throughout North America, red became the most used body paint color for indigenous tribes. Indians painted in various shapes, often stripes, circles, triangles, and dots. Tree branches and animal bones were used as paint-brushes.
Other natural ingredients, including bird excrement, plant leaves, and fruits, were mixed with animal fat and hot water Two major ingredients in body paint were charcoal and ocher, a reddish clay.
Native American tribes have used body paint from their first appearance in North America in about 10,000 b.c.e., both to psychologically prepare for war as well as for visual purposes.
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