Entry Detail


stinging nettle


Entry Type:  
Species
Scientific Name:  
Common Name:  
stinging nettle
Myaamia Name:  
aašoošiwia

Media 
Media not available.
Myaamia Archival Sources  
Reference Source Reference Type Archival Data Comments
Kinietz, W.V. 1965 Use - Material 

"Before their knowledge of the whites they used belts made of the small bones found in the legs of swans and other large birds, which were attached by means of a cord composed of the fibres of the wild nettle. These were made with much labour; and were said to be admirably wrought. They soon exchanged them however for the wampum . . .".

National Museum of the American Indian 2003 Related Info 

There are Myaamia items made of hemp, possibly dogbane or nettles, including a sack, medicine pouch and necklace cordage, all housed at the National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington D.C.

Raudot, A.D. 1904 Use - Technology 

Cordage for fishing nets made from nettles and wild hemp. The women gather, spin and twist lengths of cordage on their bare thighs. The cords used to draw these nets are made of the bark of basswood or leather. With these nets many fish and beaver are captured. They also fish with still lines up to 90 meters long.

Cranbrook Institute of Science 2003 Use - Material 

There are two items that are possibly made with plant fibers, which could include dogbane, nettles or basswood, among others, at the Cranbrook Institute in Michigan.

Botanical Sources  
Reference Source Reference Type Data Comments
Gonella, M. P. 2018-2022 Related Info 

This nettle is the only tall, perennial nettle in Myaamia lands, and considering that fiber sources are typically from longer-stemmed plants where annual harvesting is possible (many stems are needed for making cordage), it was concluded that the nettle fibers described were derived from this species, 

Gleason, H.A. and Cronquist, A. 1991 Habitat 

Found in many habitats throughout eastern and western Myaamia lands

Related Sources  
Reference Source Reference Type Data Comments
McCafferty, M. 2004  

La Salle was one of the first to note the name of a tributary to the upper portion of Illinois River, called masaana [rope] siipiiwi, which is the present day Kankakee River, so named for the surrounding land present day Mazon where he noted a great quantity of hemp growing, possibly referring to fiber-producing plants like the nettle.

Gonella, M.P 2003-2006  

Gravier: "waapahsapiiki", plural for hemp cord ("espece de chamvre dont on fait des cordes asses blanches"). Pinet: "corde dorties"

Blair, E 1911  

Algonquians play a game called crosse, played with a wooden ball and racket with a netted end, like a tennis racket. "There is among them a certain game, called crosse, which has much likenes to our game of long tennis . . . You will see them all equipped with the crosse--which is a light club, having at one end a broad flat part that is netted like a racket [possibly dogbane, basswood, nettles, or another strong fiber".

Eckert, A.W. 1967  

Documented as used by local Indians in the Kentucky area, the Shawnee, in a letter from Col. Nathan Boone; son of Daniel Boone, to Dr. Lyman Draper: "Used to gather nettles, a sort of hemp, towards spring when it became rotted by the wet weather, and spin them, very strong--in rich lands grows four feet high: nettles the warp, and buffalo wool spun the filling--both spun. For socks buffalo wool alone was used--quite soft and wears very well".

Schwartz, O. and Wiggins, M. 2021  

Young stinging nettles are harvested for food by the Ojibwe.

Cranbrook Institute of Science 2003  

Unidentified cordage fibers were used for attaching Myaamia history belts.

Whitford, A. C. 1941  

Nettles were of the most important sources of fibers for Eastern North American Indians, where the plant tissues were almost always treated before fiber use. Many tribes simply peeled the bark from the plant and twisted it. Museum artifacts made with nettle fibers include a Delaware wampum string and burden strap, Micmac cordage to hold a knife blade to its handle, an Ojibway bow string, twelve Hopewell specimens, and other uses by Ohio cave and rock-shelter dwellers.