Why Native Americans used leather pouches. It was made because a leather bag is better at carrying some objects than a pot is. Indians thought it was important that a carrying case matched its contents. Native bags were made to hold an individual type of object. They were often decorated to indicate what belonged inside of them. There were two very basic styles of American Indian bags: soft pouches and stiff rawhide pouches. Native American bags were often painted or beaded with the tribal designs of the Indian who made it, particularly if the bag was designed to hold something sacred, such as medicine.