A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional panel of leather).
Why did people start wearing moccasins?
Moccasins protect the foot while allowing the wearer to feel the ground. The Plains Indians wore hard-sole moccasins, given that their territorial geography featured rock and cacti. The eastern Indian tribes wore soft-sole moccasins, for walking in leaf-covered forest ground.
What are the different types of moccasins?
They are of two types: soft-soled and hard-soled. Soft-soled moccasins were and are found mainly but not exclusively in the East. Their upper and lower pieces are made of the same or similar materials; often they were constructed from a single piece of hide.