SWEETGRASS MAT

technique:

^coiling

"In coiling,a horizontal

warp

is

sewn

over

and

overwith avertical weft threadof flexiblematerialeachstitchinterlockingwith one im- mediately beneathit" (Lyford, 1953,p. 60). (Seefig.35.)

Mason

(1904, p. 196),

who

treats matting as a

form

of basketry, says, "Coiled basketry is sewed, not woven,"

and

defines sewing as

"the joining of parts with

an awl and

splint,"

which

in the case of sweetgrass

mats

are a needle

and

thread.

Yet on

the

same page

he defines pierced

warp

as "the

form

of

weaving

in cattail . . .

when

Figure35.

—

^{Details ofweaves:} Coilingusedinsweetgrassmat.

272 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

^{[BuU. 186}

the weftstringspassthrouglithe warp." Since a needle

and

thread

is

employed

in both, there seems to be

no warranty

for saying one

mat

is

weaving and

theotherisnot.

As Mason

sayselsewhere _(p.189₎

,

"No wide

gulf separates the different varieties of textiles, however, beginning with such coarse products as brush fences

and

fish weirs

and

ending withthefinestlace

and

needlework."

The

broaderinter- pretationof

weaving

isusedinthispaper.

BACKGROUND

The

writerdidnotobserve the

making

ofacompletesweetgrassmat, butin

August

1961elicited

from two

practicingweaversof sweetgrass their directions for

making

a mat.

In

essential agreement except for the divergenciesnoted

below were

Mrs.

Susan

Pemberton, living

on

Cass

Lake

in

Leech Lake

Reservation,

and

Mrs.

Margaret

Bigbear of

Ponsf

ord

on White Earth

Reservation.

The

utilizationofsweetgrass for mats, baskets,

and

ornamentation of baskets of other materials, while rare today, is not extinct.

The

writer

found

other sweetgrass weavers in the communities of the informants as well as at ISTaytahwaush

on White Earth

Reservation

and Garden

RiverReserve, Ontario,near SaultSainteMarie.

Volney

Jonesin hisfineall-inclusive

paper

(1936) reports

them

for

Walpole

Island,south of

Lake Huron

(p. 23).

Smith

(1932, p. 419) mentions

them

at

Lac du Flambeau

Reservation, Wisconsin,

and

the Leech Lake, Minnesota, ^area.

The

present study

found

all the sweetgrass workers to be

women, and

Jones concurs with but one exception

(1936, p.28).

GATHERING AND

PREPARING MATERIALS

The

popular

name

"sweetgrass" derives

from

its vanillalike odor,

which

developsasitdries.

The

scentsometimespersistsforyears,

and

is especially noticeable

when

the grass is

damp. The

Indians say that

when

they smell this odor

on

entering a

room where

there is

sweetgrass,they

know

itisgoingto rain.

The

^scientific

name

of the "Indian's

perfume" was found

in this study to be Hierochloe odorata (L.)

Wahlenb.

Jones _{(1936, p.} 21) reports this

name and

a

number

of

synonyms

{Hierochloe horealis^

Savastanaodorata^

and

Torresia odorata).

Densmore

(1928, pp.294, 296) findsthelast-named

and

adds"(L.) Hitche."Smith's

name

(1932, p. 419) of

''Anthoxanthwm odoratwm

L." is refuted

by

Jones (1936, p.22)^.

The Chippewa name was

variouslygivenas wicho'hinbucko'si

(Densmore, 1928,pp. 294,298; Smith, 1932, p.419)

and

wicJco-mash- Tcossiw (Lyford, 1953, p. 63).

Anthrop.Pap.

CHIPPEWA MAT-WEAVING TECHNIQUES —

^{^PETERSEN}

273

No.67]

Sweetgrass occasionally is

found

in

dry

lands, but usually

grows

near a lake or other water. It

may

be ^recognized

by

its leaves that are shinier

and

wider thanthose of other grasses near it,

and by

its rosyorpurplish lowerend.

Theglossy upper surface of the leaves and the semierect habit are features useful initsrecognition.

Thegrassisharvestedfromthe middleofJuly [cf.ibid.

—

the middleofJune]

until itbegins to dry in September. . . . The midseasonproduct is considered most desirable. The leaves are gathered by grasping the shoots firmly near the ground and pulling steadily until they break loose from the rootstocks, whichareaninchortwo underthesurface. Careless jerkingis liable tobreak theshootsabovethegroundandto leaveragged ends andcause waste. Gather- ingis slowandtedious sincethegrassisusuallyscatteredand mixedwith other plants. [Jones, 1936,p. 22.]

A

familyof several

members was

reportedtohave spenta

morning

picking a

bunch

of sweetgrass ^{li/^} inches in diameter.

Maximimi

length of the grassisabout3feet.

Any

adhering rootis picked off at once.

That

it

grows

readily is apparent

from

the fact that Mrs.

Pemberton

reported that roots she

had

discarded

grew

into plants.

Mrs. Bigbear stressed the "cleaning" of the grass (i.e., discarding the short pieces

and

reddish lower end) as essential to a prettymat, whileMrs.

Pemberton

usedthe coloredendsbut

trimmed

offthe

heavy

part. Jones' informants (1936, p. 28) cut off the coarse bases just beforebeginningthe sewing.

The

grass is tiednear its lower

end

in bunches aboutone-fourthof

an

inchin diameter. Mrs. Bigbear then tiedthebunchestogether in pairs

and threw them

over aline in the house to dry forabout 2 days. Mrs.

Pemberton hung

thebunchesin thehouseor outdoorsintheshadefor

two weeks

after

wrapping

each

bimch

spirally with string for about two-thirds of its 3-foot length, so that

when

it shrank in dryingit

would

not slip outof the string.

She

mentionedthatifthe grass

was

usedbeforeit

was

entirelydrythe completed

work would

not betight

and

firm after the grassfinished drying

and

shrinking. Grassthatisnottobe usedatonceis

wrapped and

tiedfirmly in

newspapers and

storedaway. Mrs. Bigbear

damp-

ened her grass before using it

by

moistening a towel

and

rolling

up

the grassinit.

Two methods

of drying are reported

by

Jones _(1936, pp. 23-24), outdoors in the shade

and

indoors over a stove.

He,

too,

found

the cured grassto be

"wrapped

tightly innewspapers,

and

putin a

dark

place."

He

adds, "If the grassis allowed to dry quickly in the sun the color

and

the odor are soonlost,

and

the grass becomes stiff

and

brittle.

Some

of the color, odor,

and

pliabilitycan be retained for2 or 3 yearsifthe grassisproperly cured immediatelyaftergathering."

He

observedthat beforeusingthe grass dried outdoors, "it is

dipped

274 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

[BuU. 186 into boilingwater

and withdrawn

almost immediately. Thisrestores the pliability

and

brings out the odor."

However,

the stove-dried product after 2 years

had

retained its color, odor,

and

sufficient pli- abilitytobeused without

dampening.

Grass prepared foruse is

shown

in

Densmore

_(1928, pi.49), Jones (1936,^pi.3,i),

and

thepresent

paper

(pi.55)

.