Since prehistoric times, Native Americans have been making leather clothes and developing a long tradition of crafting. Navajo blankets, textiles and jewelry are examples of finely crafted artworks. Northwest coastal Indian tribal masks, totem poles and wooden artifacts, along with Hopi, Zuni and Acoma pottery and kachinas, are well represented in museums across the country.

Clothing
• The clothing worn by Native Americans varied widely by tribe, culture and time period. Before the European contact of the 1500s, American Indian clothing was largely made from scraped and prepared animal skins. The clothing was sewn together with sinew or strips of leather. Furs were worn in winter.

Accessories
• Both men and women wore finely crafted accessories with their native outfits. Strips of hide covered with beadwork were worn as belts. Parfleche pouches and leather bags were painted, beaded and decorated with quillwork. Native Americans wore shoes called moccasins. The soft-leather footwear was sinew-stitched and typically decorated with colorful beadwork.

Beadwork
• Before glass seed-beads became a common trade item in the 1500s, most Native American beads were hand-carved or crafted from wood, shells, bones, teeth, precious metals, or turquoise and other gemstones. The geometric patterns and bright colors of the Plains Indians beadwork is well known, with its "lazy stitch" style.

Pottery
• Native Americans began crafting pottery about 2,000 years ago for grain and water storage. The earliest prehistoric pottery was utilitarian, without concern for aesthetic appeal. Ancient Southwestern Indians, such as the Hohokam and Mimbres cultures, began decorating their pots with expressive geometric patterns. This tradition was carried on by Navajo and Pueblo Indian potters.