The Native Indians
It may seem strange to link tartan with some of the great tribes of north American Indians and you could be forgiven for querying the link. It is however, part and parcel of the legendary global spread of the early Scots adventurers who permeated all walks of life and all cultures. The modern appeal of tartan as a unique identifier with those adventurers - whether the links are by nature or nurture - is a fascinating phenomenum.
It has been widely reported that historically there has always been a great affinity between the Scots and the North American Indians and the reasons suggested have been the similarities between their cultures and the fact that, generally speaking, if the Scots wanted to settle on Indian territory, they tended to ask, rather than take!
Someone who has studied the matter in great detail is our good friend James "Al" Bullman of Franklin, North Carolina. He's been a student of things Scottish for decades and is a Chevalier of the Grand Priory of Scotland and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (Scotland). He's also a past member of the boards of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (COSCA); Clan Rose and the Scottish Tartans Society, USA, of which he was Scottish Games Chairman. He is a lecturer at college level on Scottish history and the history of tartan and is the founder in 1988 of the original Scottish District Families Association. Even more importantly, Al is also a past vice-principal Chief of the Echota Band of the Cherokee Indians in Alabama.
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