Native American Piercing Traditions

When we think of body piercing today, we usually picture it as a modern aesthetic trend. But piercing has a long and varied place in the Indigenous cultures of North America, and it looks very different from what most people imagine. Across the continent, it appears in three broad forms: ornament worn through the nose or ears, shell jewelry traded across thousands of miles, and sacred ceremonial piercing tied to prayer and sacrifice. It's a history shaped as much by misunderstanding as by fact, starting with one of the most famous misnomers in American history.

A note on approach before we begin: some of what follows touches on living religious practice, not just history. We've tried to write about it with the respect it's owed, and to point clearly to where a tradition is sacred and closed rather than something to be borrowed.

The "Nez Perce" misnomer

The Nimíipuu people of the Columbia River Plateau — in what's now Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana — are known to most of the world as the "Nez Perce," French for "pierced nose." It's one of history's stickier mistakes. French-Canadian fur traders applied the name in the late 1700s, and Lewis and Clark cemented it in their journals after meeting the tribe in 1805.

The catch: the Nimíipuu themselves did not practice nose piercing. Anthropologists and the tribe alike have long noted the name was an error. The traders appear to have confused them with, or borrowed a regional descriptor associated with, peoples of the lower Columbia — particularly the Chinook, some of whom did wear a dentalium shell through the septum. The tribe's own name, Nimíipuu, simply means "the people," and that's the name many members use today.

It's a useful reminder that a lot of what outsiders "know" about Native body modification came filtered through European observers who often got the details wrong.

Nose and ear ornament across the Northwest

Where nose piercing did occur — among some Chinookan and other lower Columbia peoples — the ornament of choice was frequently dentalium: a small, naturally tusk-shaped shell prized for its smooth ivory color. A shell worn through the septum was a marker of beauty and standing, not a casual decoration.

Ear ornament was more widespread still. Strings of dentalium and other shell hung from the lobes signaled wealth and status, since the shells themselves carried real value. That value is the thread connecting nearly every Northwest and Plains tradition.

Dentalium: shells that traveled a continent

Dentalium shells come only from the Pacific coast, harvested from deep water from Alaska down to California by coastal peoples like the Nuu-chah-nulth using specialized tools. From there, they moved inland through Indigenous trade networks that stretched thousands of miles — reaching the Mandan and Hidatsa villages on the Missouri, the Lakota and Blackfeet of the Plains, and trade hubs like The Dalles on the Columbia.

Because the shells got rarer the farther they traveled from the ocean, they functioned almost like currency. Accounts from the 1860s describe a buffalo robe changing hands for just two or three good shells, measured out in standardized strings much like wampum on the East Coast. The longer and more unbroken the shell, the more it was worth.

Dentalium carried meaning beyond money, too. Some nations included the shells in bridal attire as a sign of good fortune, kept them in medicine bundles, or used them in prayer and ceremony. Archaeologists have found dentalium in burial sites going back more than 6,000 years — a tradition older than most written history.

The Sun Dance: sacred piercing on the Plains

The most significant ceremonial piercing in North America belongs to the Sun Dance, the central religious ceremony of many Plains nations — among them the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Blackfoot, and others. Held annually in late spring or summer when bands gathered, it is a ceremony of renewal, thanksgiving, and sacrifice for the good of the whole community.

In the forms that include it, a participant's chest or back skin is pierced and fastened with skewers of wood or bone to a central cottonwood pole, or to a weight such as a buffalo skull. The dancer then dances and leans against the tether until the skin releases. It is endured as an offering and a prayer — fulfilling a personal vow while petitioning for the well-being of the people. Not every nation or every dancer includes the piercing; some traditions, like the Plains Cree Thirst Dance, center on fasting and endurance instead.

A matter of respect: The Sun Dance is sacred, living religious practice, not body-modification history to be imitated. U.S. and Canadian authorities banned it in the 1880s, wrongly dismissing the piercing as "torture," and it was driven underground for decades — practiced in secret until the bans were lifted (1934 in the U.S., 1951 in Canada, with full U.S. religious-freedom protection arriving in 1978). It survived, and it is held to this day, frequently as a closed ceremony where many communities ask that non-Native people not participate. We mention it here for context and respect, not as anything to replicate.

A note on labrets

Further north and along the Pacific Northwest coast, peoples such as the Tlingit and Haida wore labrets — lip ornaments — as markers of rank, maturity, and lineage. Because that tradition belongs to a broader global story of lip jewelry, we cover it in its own guide: Lip Plates and Labrets: A Global History. For the bigger picture of how piercing developed across all human cultures, see our history of body piercing.

Frequently asked questions

Did the Nez Perce really pierce their noses?
No. The Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) did not practice nose piercing. The French name "pierced nose" was a mistake by fur traders, likely confusing them with lower Columbia peoples such as the Chinook, some of whom wore a shell through the septum.

What is dentalium?
A small, naturally tusk-shaped shell from the Pacific coast. It was worn as nose and ear ornament and traded across the continent as a high-value good, functioning much like currency among many tribes.

What was the Sun Dance piercing for?
It was an act of sacrifice and prayer — an offering made for the renewal and well-being of the whole community, often to fulfill a personal vow. It remains a sacred, living ceremony among many Plains nations.

Is it okay for non-Native people to take part in the Sun Dance?
Many communities consider it a closed ceremony and ask that non-Native people not participate. It's best understood as sacred religious practice to be respected, not borrowed.

Why were these practices banned?
U.S. and Canadian governments criminalized the Sun Dance and other ceremonies in the 1880s, partly out of misunderstanding and partly to suppress Indigenous resistance. The bans were lifted in the 20th century, and the traditions have been revived and continue today.

This article is a general, respectful overview of cultural history and is not a how-to or a guide to ceremonial practice. Sacred traditions described here belong to the communities that hold them. For anything involving your own piercing, consult a reputable professional piercer.