Primitive Technology

by David Wescott

  Yellow pollen blowing from the spike.

  Horizontal rootstocks contain a starchy core that may be used for flour.

  Cattails may be used to create headwear as simple sunshades or fancy hats.

  A little later in the summer the spikes will shed their wraps and the nuptial delights begin. The green staminate spike swells and begins a lusty shedding of powdery yellow pollen which spills down over the pistillate flower spike below and, with the help of a breeze, is dispersed across the marsh to insure a health cross pollination of the rest of the cattail population. You too can share in the pollination celebration if you are willing to wade out among the blossoms. By inverting and shaking each swollen, yellow spike into a bag, a substantial amount of pollen can be collected in very little time. This pollen is as smooth and fine as talcum powder. It can be mixed with equal parts of flour and made into wholesome yellow-tinted bread, pancakes, biscuits or pastries, and can be used like saffron to color rice dishes. Cattail pollen is also used in various native American ceremonies.

  The high-priced "bee pollen" that is sold in health food stores as a nutritional supplement is simply pollen gathered by bees from various flowers (including cattails, sometimes). What you are collecting from cattails is essentially the same, except that it is gathered by you. You might call it "people pollen."

  While this "celebration of pollination" is going on in the upper levels of the marsh, down below in the muck and mire, the cattails' rootstocks are also rapidly growing, producing tender, white growing tips. These tips, if caught before they shoot upwards into the light, are good eating. Just peel them and munch them fresh, right out of the marsh, or use them in salads or cooked dishes.

  The long sections of horizontal rootstocks between the leaf clumps have a starchy core that can be utilized as flour. Even today cattail flour is still an important food for some Native American groups. One method qf extracting the flour is to dry the roots, grind them up, and sift them to separate the flour from the fibrous cortex. I have also used the "Euell Gibbons method" which entails washing and peeling the fresh roots. The cores are then put into a bowl of water and crushed by hand until the fibers are all separated. The sediment is allowed to settle for about half an hour and then the water is carefully poured off, leaving the starchy residue on the bottom. More water can be added and subsequently poured off after further settling to more fully refine the product. After the last settling, pour off as much of the liquid as possible, add a little regular flour to thicken it and use it to make your favorite breadstuff.

  At the junction of the stalk and the rhizome is a thickened area of starch which, after peeling, can be eaten raw, or cooked like a potato and added to stews or soups.

  Cattail leaves have long been used as weaving material, not only for mats, baskets and hats but also to make rush chair seats. If you want to weave with cattails you need to gather the leaves when they are full grown but still green. They must first be dried under cover and then moistened before use.

  Some folks call cattails "punks" because the dried brown heads slowly smolder when ignited. The pleasant smelling smoke will repel mosquitoes.

  If you want to use cattail heads in dried flower arrangements, be sure to gather them early in the summer or one day you might come home to find your tidy, artistic arrangement has "exploded" and filled your house with bushels of fluff from the downy seed hairs. This fluff can be used mixed in with other material in a tinder bundle for starting fires.

  These hairs are light and buoyant. This serves to carry the seeds long distances, even to isolated and newly formed wet areas. Because of this cattails can be found in many parts of the world, from the tropics to the far North.

  I have a down vest that looks like one of the expensive goose down vests that have been popular with outdoor people for years—except mine's homemade and it's stuffed not with goose feathers but with down from about forty ripe cattail heads. It's very warm and though it's not as light as goose down, it has one special feature that feathers don't have: It floats! My cattail down vest doubles as a life preserver. This is quite a comfort on winter boating adventures and when I'm skating on thin ice.

  Repairing an antique chair with twisted cattail leaves.

  I don't know if I have established that you wouldn't starve next to a cattail patch, but with all the processes I've described, you would not suffer from boredom while you were wasting away.

  While we humans might barely subsist on cattails, these ubiquitous marsh plants provide a bounty of food and shelter for wildlife. Cattails are the life blood of marsh dwelling critters. It is here in the shallow water among the crowded stalks and tangled roots that the food chain starts. This is the nursery ground for the insects and the tiny fish that feed the larger fish, the amphibians and reptiles, the birds and ultimately the rest of us.

  Cattail roots and shoots are the principle food of musk-rats. It is often said that if you want to find muskrats, just look for cattails. Muskrats live off the starchy shoots and rootstocks of cattails and they construct their lodges partially from the leaves and stalks. They dig tunnels and canals through the thick mats of roots, creating pools of open water in the dense growth that protect small fish, frogs, turtles and other creatures. Marsh wrens, rails, bitterns, red-wing blackbirds and ducks build nests in the depths of the cattail marshes while herons, raccoons, possums, otters, mink and other animals prowl among the cattails in search of prey.

  Muskrat feed beds after highwater feeding.

  A "kitchen witch" made from cattail.

  Native Americans have long used the cattail not only for food but also to thatch wickiups, wigwams and other shelters and to weave mats and baskets as well.

  According to an old Indian story, Coyote, that foolish trickster-creator, was out walking one evening. He was following a trail along a ridge beside a low-lying area. Suddenly he heard sounds coming from that low spot. It sounded like music. It was almost dark and he couldn't see very well but he could hear the music. Yes, there was no mistaking; that was the sound of dance rattles. There was a dance going on. There was nothing Coyote liked better than a dance. He knew he was the best dancer and he loved to get right in the middle of the dance circle and show off. So he hustled right down that hill and pushed his way into the middle of the crowd. He could hear the rhythmic rustling of the dance rattles. Swish, swish, swish, swish. There were so many of them and they were making beautiful music. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Everybody was swaying back and forth. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Coyote started doing his fanciest steps and saying things like, "You all think you know how to dance. I'll show you how I dance!" And he started really strutting his stuff. But nobody seemed to notice. They just crowded around him and kept swaying back and forth. And the dance rattles kept their steady rhythm. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Coyote started kicking his feet out in all directions and singing loudly. But the crowd paid him no attention. They just kept swaying back and forth, and the rattles kept the rhythm. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Coyote danced, and danced, and the crowd danced along, never stopping to rest. And the rattles played on. Swish, swish, swish, swish. They danced into the night and the music never stopped, nor did the dancers. Coyote was getting tired, but he didn't want to be the first to quit. He started bragging, "So you all think you can dance. Well I'll show you I can dance a LONG time!" And the crowd danced on into the night, never stopping, even for a moment. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Coyote was getting more and more tired, but the crowd kept on dancing. Swish, swish, swish, swish. Finally he said, "You know sometimes when we dance, we rest!" But nobody stopped to rest; they just kept swaying back and forth and the rattles kept on rattling. Swish, swish, swish, swish. The dancers kept on all night until Coyote was so exhausted, he could barely stand up. And when the dawn came he looked around and realized that he hadn't been dancing with human dancers, he had been dancing with Swamp Dancers. That's the Native American name for cattails. And as he looked around, bleary-eyed and exhausted, the swamp dancers were still swaying
back and forth and they are still out there and they are still dancing. Swish, swish, swish, swish.

  I hope you can get out there and join them.

  * * *

  Outside leaves (O):

  These are the shortest, broadest and generally the thinnest on any given stalk. Because of their rartty, the finest quality broad leaves should be saved. To flatten a leaf, cut the skin on its concave side. Edges of these broad leaves which are thin and tough are especially useful as a stitching material, for use with a needle.

  Standard leaves (ST):

  These leaves comprise the greatest number (about six) in any given stalk, They are concave on one side and convex on the other. Prime Heart leaf (PH):

  There is only one leaf in the heart of the vegetative stalk that is convex on both sides. Split in half on the long axis. This is the strongest and most supple leaf in the stalk.

  Leaf variations:

  It is suggested that you become familiar with the cattails growing over a wide range. In certain areas you may find plants that have particularty broad leaves at their bases. In other areas the plants may have a leaf which is narrower than usual.

  from Bush Arts By Mors Kochanski

  * * *

  * * *

  Mrs. Kompost's Extraordinary Cattail Leaf Visor

  By Steve Watts, Photos by David Wescott

  These initial weavers form the base for the brim of the visor. Note how the weavers start out being split and woven as "singles" at the outset, and alternate starting on the upper or lower leg (Figs. 1 & 2). This alternating split or single weaver method is required to maintain the checkerboard pattern along the brim. Once all ten weavers are put into place as singles, each weaver (with its two halves) may now be used as a single unit or double weaver for the remainder of the checkeborad pattern (Fig. 3)

  Begin with 20 leaves folded in half.

  1. Start corner like this.

  2. Initial setup - every other weaver is a single both ways

  3. Checker weave 10 weavers in each direction (using both "halves)

  4. Fold inside double weaver back, weaving over and under to front and back. Pick up a new weaver each

  5. Continue this reduction to the ends

  Turning the inside weaver back creates a 45 degree fold in the weaver. Weave over and under with the double weaver until you reach the brim (Fig. 4). Bend the weaver around the brim and weave back. Pick up a new double weaver and begin weaving back toward the brim with both weavers until the original one runs out. Continue until they're all used up (Fig. 5).

  Tie the ends together, tatoo your belly and play the flute

  * * *

  * * *

  THE CATTAIL DOLL

  Text and Illustrations By Mors Kochanski, © 1989

  The cattail doll in its many forms is one of the most universally popular natural crafts. This type differs from the corn husk doll in that cattail leaves are longer and coarser. The dolls in this article are patterned after an Ojibway doll found near Lake Winnepeg, Canada.

  The Simple Doll

  The simple doll is one that a pre-schooler can make. It is made in much the same way as the sedge doll described earlier.

  (a) To make the head, neck and body core, a leaf is rolled into an oval form and covered with another leaf or two.

  (b) For the tie at the neck split a small leaf down the middle, wrap its middle portion once or twice around the neck and twist the ends together until the tie is snug. Tuck the twisted end into the body core to prevent its unraveling.

  (c) For the arms, a leaf is folded as shown so that it equals the height of the doll, and its ends are hidden in the body core.

  (d) For a coat, a few leaves are placed over each shoulder.

  (e) The waist is bound like the neck but the twisted end is tucked under the waist binding. Trim the doll to complete it.

  * * *

  Cattail Leaves

  There are two types of cattail plant, the seed-bearing and the vegetative. The seed-bearing plant sports the familiar mace or head and the vegetative one consists entirely of leaves. The leaves from the seed-bearing stalk are seldom used as they are inferior in shape or length compared to those of the vegetative stalk and can be classified as seen in the diagram on page 13.

  Harvesting Cattail

  For the applications described in this book, a good time to gather cattail is in the fall as soon as the plant has turned brown. By mid-winter the leaves may be so deteriorated from weathering by wind and sun that they become sodden rather than soft when soaked. They also become more fragile. Gather the leaves when they can be folded into bundles of a size that can be easily stuffed into a large plastic bag. Ideally, this should be done after a rain when the leaves are supple enough to fold without cracking. The leaves should be dried for storage or they will mold. Properly stored, they will remain suitable for crafting for years. They should be well soaked and perhaps wrapped with an old towel or cotton shirt and kept in a plastic bag for a day or two before use, for maximum pliability.

  * * *

  The Standard Doll

  The standard doll is the simple unembellished form that is the starting point for more complex dolls, (a) This is what this doll looks like. It requires about six vegetative cattail stalks (PH).

  (b) The head of the doll is two standard size leaves that are wound into a ball, as if winding string. As the head should be more an egg shape than spherical, squeeze the ball now and again to make it more oval. The completed ball is one-seventh to one-eighth the height of the doll.

  (c) The ball is now covered with about six smaller or narrower-than-average leaves as these tend to produce a better effect. All are made to cross at the very top of the head and are overlapped so that the ball is covered neatly and completely. Once this is done the neck is twisted slightly to tighten the covering a little more. The neck is then tied with a prime heart leaf.

  (d) Gather a small bundle of leaves about four times as long as the doll is tall. Lay some leaves in the opposite direction to make the bundle of a more even thickness. At a point one-third from an end, double the bundle and begin twisting the first arm. About seven twists will produce a length of arm that is half the height of the doll. At a point one-third from the remaining end, double the bundle and twist until the base of the first arm is reached.

  (e) The completed arms should form a T.

  (f) Part the body core in the middle and insert the arms. Fold leaves over each shoulder until a desired bulk is achieved and tie at the waist. Trim the bottom of the dress. The standard doll shown at (a) is now complete.

  * * *

  ADVENTURES WITH THE VERSATILE TULE

  "What's a tule?"

  When my friend Rusty returned from Boy Scout camp, I asked him about his adventures. He said that because of this minor infraction of the rules, he had spent a lot of time on "tule detail" ~ pulling tules (too-lees) from the lake margin to clear the camp swimming hole. I didn't know what a tule was, nor could I imagine that far into the future I would voluntarily spend a lot of my own time pulling tules.

  Tules, genus Scirpus of the sedge family, are distributed in a variety of species worldwide. Also known as bulrushes, the dark green tules are distinguished easily from cattails (Typha ) and other marsh vegetation by their tall, un-branched round stems, which reach 10 or more feet in Oregon. Tules often grow in pure stands of several acres. Had I grown up aboriginally almost anywhere in the Great Basin or Columbia Plateau regions of the Intermountain West, tules would have been integral to my life from birth. Since I have been teaching aboriginal life-skills courses, I've researched and experimented considerably with the multifarious uses of the tule that I missed in my own childhood.

  Even a cursory inspection of Western native cultures reveals certain plants of utmost importance: red cedar bark and wood, for fiber and construction materials along the Northwest coast, and sagebrush, fulfilling those same functions in the Great Basin, are but two examples. Tules were prolific along streams, lakes and fresh or sal
twater marshes over the entire area and had the distinction of being used by nearly all tribes.

  Each spring the new tule shoots spurt upward from perennial rhizomes (underground stems) and reach full height in a few short weeks. In early June in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, I've watched the tules grow several inches in one day. With the frosts of fall, the green stems die, fade through yellow to brownish and are bent and broken by the winter winds. These dense tangles provide the protective cover necessary for early nesting waterfowl the next spring before new vegetation emerges.