Sisters make jewelry like the Indians did

Sisters Ashley and Sarah Brendel like to make homemade arts and crafts. Now, they've learned how to make cordage jewelry out of native Missouri plants.

While doing that, they became subjects for a magazine article. They are featured in the current Missouri Conservation Department's kids quarterly magazine, OutsideIn.

(To see the complete OutsideIn article, you can go to the department's website at: www.conservation.state.mo.us. Then, click on to the Kids section of the website.)

Fourteen-year-old Ashley said, "I'm a craftsy person. I want to use things that you don't have to buy. With cordage jewelry, you can get the materials in the wild."

Nine-year-old Sarah said, "I wanted to try to make something the way the Indians did it in the old days."

They got their chance to learn to make the unique jewelry during a demonstration by Bill Davit of Washington, Mo. Davit worked for 30 years for the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Bill Davit with stinging nettle fibers.

Although he's retired now, he still gives demonstrations on how Native Americans made all sorts of rope-like products from plants and trees. An estimated 1,000 different plants found in North America were used by Indians to make cordage products.

Some were dainty things like the cordage jewelry and bracelets the Brendel girls like.

But, others were for bigger jobs. One reference book said Indians made fishing nets that were strong enough to hold huge fish, such as the river sturgeon. Those fish grew up to 18-feet in length but the Indians' nets held them.

The local girls met Davit at a Missouri Botanical Garden demonstration day. They had come with their father, Ron Brendel, who was there to show off snakes, lizards and frogs. He's a member of the St. Louis Herpetological Society.

Ashley said, "Once we saw Mr. Davit's display, we spent all day there working on different types of cordage.

"He showed us all the steps, starting with how to chop off the ends of plants to get at the fiber."

Davit shows example of good cordage plants, dogbane on top and swamp milkweed on bottom.

Some of the common plants that make good cordage include swamp milkweed, dogbane (also called Indian hemp), rattlesnake master and stinging nettle. Of course, when you harvest stinging nettle, it's good to wear gloves because the nettles do sting the skin.

Indians used plant cordage for such things as fishing line and nets, carrying bags, shoes and even clothing.

They also used cordage to make decoration on clay pottery. The Indians would make a pot and, then while the clay was still damp, they'd press their cordage to add texture to the pot's exterior, Davit said.

One thing that's often important is to dampen the plant fibers before you start to weave them. That way, the fiber is more flexible when you weave it but when it dries the cord is stronger.

Ashley said she made a woven wooden basket the same way, "I dipped the sticks into water to soften them so it was easier to weave them together. But, once they dried, their crooked shapes were wedged tightly together," she said.

Davit said many plants make good cordage after they turn brown late in the season. But, he said the yucca plant's fibers are the finest when harvested while the leaves are green. Yucca isn't a native Missouri plant but many homeowners use the spiky plant for lawn decoration.

"You pick the leaves when they are green. Then, you boil the leaves for four hours along with wood ashes. Then, using a blunt knife or a spoon, you scrap off the remaining green part. What's left makes fine fibers," he said.

Ashley and Sarah don't limit their activities to arts and crafts.

Ashley now is a 9th grader at Incarnate Word High School. She plays soccer on a club team and basketball at school. She hopes to be a 4th grade teacher when she finishes college.

Sarah is in 5th grade at Russell Elementary School. She also plays soccer and basketball. She hopes to be a medical doctor when she is grown.

They are the daughters of Ron and Cathy Brendel.