How did clothing and body modification show social status on the Northwest Coast?

In the societies of the Northwest Coast, clothing and body modifications served as significant indicators of an individual's hereditary social rank within their house group.1

Clothing and Adornment

While most daily clothing was designed for environmental protection, high-status individuals utilized specific materials to signal their prestige.2
* Robes: Chiefly individuals often wore robes made of or edged with sea otter fur, which was highly valued. Other high-ranking people wore robes crafted from mountain goat wool.21
* Decoration: The quality and level of embellishment on garments were direct markers of status. Ceremonial blankets, such as those produced by the Chilkat, featured complex representations of crests, which were exclusive privileges of high-ranking clans.12

Body Modification

Physical alterations were also used to signify elite status:
* Head Flattening: This was considered a beautifying process practiced on infants of relatively high status. By binding a newborn's head to a cradle board, the skull was shaped into a distinctive wedge or subconical form.1
* Limitations: While these modifications were markers of nobility, they were not absolute proof of current status, as children from high-ranking families could be captured and enslaved by other groups.1

These status markers were formally recognized and reified during the potlatch, where social ranks were publicly acknowledged through the distribution of gifts and the performance of hereditary rights.1