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AIR Natural Fiber Weaving week II and III 3/03 Melinda West

 

For thousands of years the Traditional Cultures of this area have used plant fibers to make whatever they needed to survive. These are a few of the important fiber plants they liked to use.

Tuesday Morning Group: Tall and Short Trees With Lots of Fiber Uses:
Big Leaf Maple
Red Alder
Hazelnut

Tuesday Afternoon Group: Perennial Plants With Useful Stems:
Fireweed
Stinging Nettles
Horsetail/Scouring rush

Wednesday Morning Group: Vines used for lashing and rope:
Wild Blackberry
Orange Honeysuckle
Kelp

Wednesday Afternoon Group: Grasses and Leaves, Plants with long fibers:
Bulrush
Slough Sedge
Yellow Flag Iris

First 40 minutes of class:
I will: a. divide the class into three groups and assign them a material
b. provide poster board, colored markers
c. reference materials for that plant
d. samples of plant, either fresh or dried
e. guiding questions to answer together
Small group objectives:
a. research their material
b. draw plant leaf, seed, and/or flower on a group poster
c. answer the questions together.
d. write a short script based on these answers so each person can present a detail about this plant to the rest of the class.
Snack and rest break (15 min)
Weaving Project (60 min)
Gallery display and clean up (15)
Later in class: (10 min)
Each group will introduce their plant to the rest of the class, following their script, using the poster and any samples as visual aids.
Let the students know they will be able present this at the fireside program!

Guiding Questions

For thousands of years the Traditional Cultures of this area have used plant fibers to make whatever they needed to survive. Big Leaf Maple is one of the important fiber plants they liked to use.

1. Is this a plant or tree that keeps its leaves all year?

2. How large can a grown-up tree become?

3. Have you ever seen little ferns growing on the trunks of these trees? What are the names of these ferns?

4. Draw a Maple leaf. Measure the size of your sample leaf.

5. What do the seeds look like? (Have you ever seen the seeds twirling down to the ground?)

6. What part(s) of this plant did the Traditional Cultures of the Pacific Northwest use?

7. What were some of the things they made with these parts or fibers?

8. Now that you know something about this plant, what it looks like, and how it was used, what nickname would you like to give it? (A name that would help you always to remember this plant.)