Making Tule Mats

It is still possible to make items like baskets and mats but a lot more difficult to make boats or houses.

Making tule mats. The stem or stalk of the tule is the part of the plant used in making a tule mat. Primitive and native cultures used and still use this versatile plant for food and making tule boats homes mats baskets clothing and much more. If you re looking for a durable play mat for your little tot then you ll love this relatively easy and very cheap project. Tule mats are also used to dry traditional foods and are employed as table mats during feasts.

In this overview caryldene swan from the coeur d alene tribe of indians demonstrates the basic steps of making a tule reed mat. In addition to demonstrating how to create the mats swan discusses the materials required to make the mats some of the traditional uses for mats and the qualities of tule reed that make them useful for constructing shelters. Dyed and woven tules are used to make baskets bowls mats hats clothing duck decoys and even boats by native american groups. Why was the tule mat lodge chosen as a shelter or house style.

Another mat making method is to sew the tule together with cordage. A tule mat made with tule cordage has larger gaps between rows of tule because tule cordage is a thick twining material. Tule mat weaving demonstration overview. Mats may be twined together using lengths of twisted tule.

This method s greatest advantage is that it does not require a fiber plant like dogbane. Tule mats are used on the walls of traditional structures such as teepees and longhouses. Tule is just one example of how cultural activities are starting to disappear because of environmental change. Now the remaining tule is often too short and dried out.

These mats served a number of different functions including the construction of lodging floor coverings and for serving food. Swan and leanne cambell also from the coeur d alene tribe of indians discuss the experience of harvesting tule reeds. Tule stems were used to make floor and sleeping mats cordage skirts for thatching houses for baskets and much. Before the salish got horses for bison hunting they lived in tents covered with sewed mats of tule.

The interlocking foam floor mat is the perfect base for the soft felt strips making it the ideal rug for your little one to comfortably play on all day long. Every tribe choose a type of housing to suit their lifestyle the climate the environment and the natural resources known as biomes that were available to them and the tribes of the plateau. At least two tribes the wanapum and the pomo people constructed tule houses as recently as the 1950s and still do for special occasions. Karen taught about the variety of uses that tule had and taught about the historical significance of the plant in chumash life.

In the fall the tule leaves begin to die and. Tule is a plant that grows in wetland habitats in california and in many different locations worldwide.