Links on tanning the Native way:

Native American Hide Tanning Techniques

Native American Hide Curing Techniques

Tanning Hides Step-by-Step

How to Prepare Hides for Tanning

How to tan a hide

Solutions for Tanning a Hide

Because of the Southeast's mild winter and hot, long summer, Creeks wore little clothing.  Men wore deerskin breechcloths. Women wore skirts made of deerskin or of cloth woven from rabbit hair, Spanish moss, or cotton.  Both men and women sometimes wore grass shawls over one shoulder.  In summer, children wore no clothes at all until they were about twelve.  (Newman, S.P., 1996 The Creek)

Cherokee women also  made clothing from the animal skins.  But the men usually made and repaired their own moccasins. (Lepthien, E.U., 1985 The Cherokee)

When a Cherokee delegation went to visit the Royal Family of England, the men were thought to be very frightening with their tattooed heads and bodies. It was decided to cover their upper bodies with the English smoking jacket, which became our hunting jacket and cover their heads with a shorter version of the turban of the Muslim house servants of the Royal Family. These introduced styles were well received among the men of the Five Civilized Tribes and continue to be a part of our cultural dress styles.

European colonists had a profound impact on Cherokee clothing. Cherokee men adopted linen shirts and match coats of stroud, a cheap wool. Match coats were similar to ponchos or blankets. When Cherokee ambassadors arrived in London in 1762, they wore silver gorgets, or throat-coverings, and robes edged with braiding. Beaded moccasins, silver armbands and feathers enhanced their appearance.

By the mid-1800s, stroud replaced buckskin for breachclouts and leggings. The women quickly adapted to European dress. They decorated waistcoats with shells or bead work and wore calico shirts, flounced skirts and fitted bodices.