On Sep 30, 2009, at 9:18 AM, cbellfl...@aol.com wrote:
Isn't that called Ramie?
Ramie is in the nettle family, but a different species.
I wonder whether bark-based fibers or pounded-bark cloth might have
been possibilities. If Native Americans made cord (which I'm sure they
did) then there must have been *some* sources of fiber available.
Generally, though, bark-based fibers seem to be considerably harder to
"domesticate" than animal-based or annual-plant-based fibers -- much
slower growing, of course, and I suspect also more labor-intensive to
prepare. (Although considering all you have to go through to get linen
from flax, maybe I shouldn't say that!)
I expect there are also hemp-like fibers available from some plant or
other throughout most of North America, though it's an area I haven't
researched. And the yucca relatives in dry areas certainly produce
plenty of leaf fiber; I'm not sure how easy that is to extract.
Don't forget also that while sheep and linen aren't native to the New
World, cotton *is* -- not quite the same strains, but very close. I
know it was used for both cordage and cloth in the Southwest. There's
an Anasazi sock from circa 1200AD made from cotton, with fur caught in
the plies of the cotton thread for (presumably) warmth. It is attached
to a sole of plaited yucca leaves. That's a rather labor-intensive,
but plausible way to use sheared fur, which (in the absence of our
friends the sheep) tends to be too slippery to spin well.
____________________________________________________________
O (Dame) Christian de Holacombe, OL - Shire of Windy Meads
+ Kingdom of the West - Chris Laning <clan...@igc.org>
http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com
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