Summary Explore how people use plants for weaving and dyes. Make a veggie smoothie to eat. Science content Biology: Indigenous People's sustainable use of Living Things (K, 2, 3) Chemistry: Indigenous People’s Materials/Separation methods (1, 6) Earth/Space: Sustainable practices, Interconnectedness (2, 5, 7) Activities in this lesson Extracting dyes from plants Twining Gazpacho soup / veggie smoothie Procedure This lesson is on how people, particularly Indigenous groups, use plants for weaving and dyes. End with a plant snack. It is good run outdoors near to native plants, but if the gazpacho soup is included, an electrical outlet is needed. Twine grass or wool to show the twining method. Twining is used worldwide to make strong strands, for rope or fishing line and nets. Twining is also used to make baskets by twining around uprights. Woven baskets are often made with more than one colour - plant dyes can colour the weaving materials or used for paint on the finished weaving. Do the plant dyes activity. If possible, walk to find plants that could be used for twining or for dyes; e.g. at Trout Lake we found: Willow bark (for ropes, fishing line and nets) and willow branches for making a fish weir (they take root in the river bottom). Small flowered bullrush for basket weaving. Cedar for wood (canoes) bark (clothing, mats), and many other uses. Iris leaves for snares for elk and large animals (!) Native yellow iris used for a dye (we found purple iris). Berries used for dyes. Make Gazpacho soup from plants. Grades taught Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 4
