Bark and Bast

Native men building canoes.

       Although the dwellings of the woodland native people were made in different shapes, all houses had a framework of poles covered with bark or mats. To make their houses as well as their canoes and a great many of their household articles these indigenous peopls who lived in the north, used the bark of the paper birch that grew along rivers and the shores of lakes.

       In the spring, when the sap began to move, the bark was peeled off the trees in large sheets. The bark was loosened just enough to make this possible, if it were done carefully. The sheets of bark were rolled up and taken back to camp where they were flattened out. The men placed the bark, inner side down, on the ground and held the bark down by setting heavy stones on top of it. The bark flattened as it soaked up moisture from the ground. When it was flat, the bark was ready to be made into many different articles.

       The canoe was probably the most important thing made of birchbark. Graceful and easily carried and handled, the native's canoe was perfect for traveling in the wilderness. Later the birchbark canoe became just as important to the early explorers as it was to the Native Americans.

       Farther south where the paper birch was scarce, the bark of other trees was used for houses. The Potawatomi, who lived in the Chicago area, covered their houses with bark from the slippery elm and white elm. Strips of bark six feet long were taken from the trees and flattened in the same way that the northern natives flattened birchbark. The native people sometimes used the bark from the hickory, poplar, cottonwood, white cedar, and spruce trees for their houses.

       Chicagoland natives made their winter houses of cattail mats. In the winter, when it was too cold to do any farming, the natives went into the forest to hunt. Since they were on the move constantly, they had to live in a house that they could put up in a hurry and take down in a hurry. The large summer house, covered with pieces of bark, was too big and took too much time to build. The house made of cattail mats was much easier to put up and take down. It was, however, a very uncomfortable house in which to live, according to modern standards. The bitterly cold winter winds made it necessary for natives to keep a big fire burning in the house all the time in order to be comfortable.

       The inner bark, or bast, of several kinds of trees was made into cordage or string. One of the best sources was the inner bark of the basswood. Long narrow strips of bark were peeled from the trunk and soaked in water for several days to loosen the inner bark so that it could be easily separated from the outer bark, which was thrown away. By running a fingernail along the edge, the natives separated the inner layer into slender threads that were then boiled to separate them and make them flexible. Large balls of basswood twine were always kept on hand to be made into rope or whatever was needed. Bags, mats, baskets, and sometimes even fishnets were made of basswood fibers. Fibers were also obtained from the inner bark of young hickory, pawpaw, and Osage orange.

       The outer rind of the common milkweed plant provided indigenous people with a very fine thread that they used for sewing and for making light fish lines. Hemp was another important source of fibers for the natives. The soft silky fibers from this plant were worked into threads that were much finer and stronger than our cotton sewing thread of today. Svoboda

Read more about the gifts from Native Americans:

• Gifts From The Native Americans  
• Cultivated Plants 
• Wild Plants
• Nuts and Berries
• Beverages
• Maple Sugar
• Seasoning
• Medicine
• Gourds and Pumpkins and Their Uses