Beauty surrounds us

[Tom]

This is a link to a brochure from the Nation Museum of American Indian, in pdf, it's a nice read and has some great images.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/pdf/beauty_surrounds_us_brochure.pdf

[Linda]

I enjoyed that. Great detail on wonderful pieces. The featherwork on some leggings I thought inspirational.

[Wachinika]

Page 11 was my favorite. Seeing the work in natural fibers makes me wonder on the cloth described as being woven by the early Southeast people. I liked the Karuk woman’s skirt and the Kiowa woman’s leggings.

[dovelady]

Thanks Tom, wonderful article. :)

[Linda]

We've got some old posts on the subject of weaving. William Byrd noted that our women wove skirts for themselves out of what sounds like dogbane. I'd love to see someone try to create a soft fabric from that.

[Wachinika]

Mmm... looking for dogbane I see it's similar to milkweed and has long fibers attached to the seeds. I have to wonder if they couldn't have twisted thread from this silk of the seeds to weave the aprons.

Any referrence to their aprons talks about how well they concealed them and how modest they were. So if they used the courser cordage type fibers of the stalk you'ld think maybe they had some method to soften them... something acidic maybe.

The Byrd Pub. is online in several places. I've read it but I'm not in a searching mood today.

I think the seed fiber idea is interesting.

Here's one quote when I searched Byrd here, under your discussion on weaving feathered capes. I was thinking Pre-columbian Incan Peruvian weavings more advanced than any done ever...or a finer dennier than modern fabrics, when I see post #1 here had that idea too. The cultures are too similar for there not to have been some common bases. Here's the quote from:

http://www.saponitown.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2690&highlight=byrd#post2690

post#2



...I would think cording from dogbane would be good for making the mesh. We looked this fall, but never did find a supply of it. Sun offered to grow some. I bet it would grow down by the pond. It seems to be what William Byrd was referring to in his History of the Line. It seems he was near Mecklenburg County, VA, and someone showed him the stalk of a plant that the ladies used to make the little skirts they wore around their waists. I was very happy to find this reference, since at the time I was being bombarded by "expert" re-enactors who were telling me our ladies wouldn't have known how to weave. Humph!
Here's a link to a discussion on cordage materials from dogbane:

http://imnh.isu.edu/Public/JustForKids/CordageDiscoveryBox/SubMenu_1/content_1A_Dogbane_temp.htm

[Wachinika]

...Slow long-term memory kicking in... I had several Pre-Columbian Latin-American Art History courses way back when... I think I'm recalling the Incans of Peru twisted their fine threads using their mouth and saliva.

Then they wove with simple backstrap looms made of 2 large sticks and tied to a tree at the top and with a strap around their back with which they adjusted the tension of the weaving while seated on the ground. I experimented a touch with this type of loom and regular wool yarn.

(Some nation's quill workers place porqupine quills in the mouth to soften them and flatten them with the teeth before using them. I've also given this a try. This is quite an advanced art that would take a great deal of experience on brain- tanned buffalo hide or deer skin. Split cowhide is too tough.)