This is an activity will allow students explore how some colours are extracted from nature to be used as dyes.
Colours are significant to many First Nations. For example, red, black, yellow and white are the colours of the Medicine Wheel, a vital teaching tool among many First Nations. The interpretations of the colours vary from community to community. For some, white is associated with the North, black with the West, red with the South and yellow with the East. Many First Nations decorate their clothing, hunting implements and other objects with natural colours through embroidery using dyed moose or caribou hair, beads made from coloured shells or dyed porcupine quills. This database can help you find plants used by the Indigenous peoples of your area and others: http://naeb.brit.org/ Developed by: Sophia Zruna and Marie Cooney |