The Native American people are a very spiritual group of people and their culture is full of many different ceremonies and traditions. During these rituals and ceremonial rites it is very common to see high ranking tribal leaders dressed in ceremonial Native American costume. Many of these costumes are fashioned after different animals that the American Indians considered sacred and the reason they would dress up wearing different animal masks was to honor certain gods and spirits. The majority of the ceremonies where Native American costume is worn are performed for a certain reason, such as a ritual to the gods asking for rain to help their crops grow. Some of the most sacred animals to the Native American people are animals that they would fashion these costumes out of, such as the buffalo, which too many tribes was a very important animal for many reasons including food, clothing, and even housing. Most of the Native American tribes also believed that the spirits of their ancestors would go on to live inside the animals in their surroundings; this was another one of the many reasons they were considered sacred.
Another popular form of Native American costume is the American Indian Halloween costume which many children wear every year. A typical Native Halloween costume consists of a feather headdress, which was something that was worn by many great Native American Indian tribal chiefs. Usually the Halloween costume also consists of paint to resemble the war paint that may Native warriors would wear. There are usually other accessories that come with the costumes, such as a shirt resembling the hides that many tribes wore. Also, it is common to see other accessories to the costume such as replica Native American weapons such as the tomahawk or a bow and arrow set. The Native American costume that is seen at Halloween is not usually a true representation of the Native American people.