Thursday, November 27, 2025

Native American camouflage / hidden in animal skins

Above
Engraving by Dutch publisher Theodor de Bry (1591), based on a drawing by French artist Jacques LeMoyne de Morgues (c. 1533-1588), made during explorations of what is now Florida in the 1560s. It documents the use of animal skins for disguise, as described below by LeMoyne.

The Indians hunt deer in a way we have never seen before. They hide themselves in the skin of a very large deer which they have killed some time before. They place the animal's head upon their own head, looking through the eye holes as through a mask. In this disguise they approach the deer without frightening them. They choose the time when the animals come to drink at the river, shooting them easily with bow and arrow.