ItiFabvssa:DyeingforColor
Whatcolorsareyouwearingtoday?Doyouthinkourancestorsworethesecolors300yearsago?Choctawshavelongdressedinbeautiful,uniqueclothing.Forhundredsandthousandsofyears,ourpeopleusedavarietyofplants,mineralsandtechniquestocolorourhandiwork.Thesepieceswerenotjustfunctional,butalsoaestheticallypleasing.Theprocessofdyeingiscomplex,yetrewardingandspeakstotherefinedartisticeyeofChoctawmakers.Theprocessof
dyeingwasjustoneofmanystepsinmakingclothingforourChoctawancestorsandrequiredveryspecialingredients:nativeSoutheasternplantscontainingrichcolors.Ourrelationshiptothelandistiedinwithastrongunderstandingoftheresourceswehave.Ourhomelandswererichin
plantresourcesandtheseareapreciouspartofmakingcolorfultextilesandotherartisanwork.Anearlyaccountaboutourpeopledescribedhow“[Choctaws]prepareakindofclothoutofthebarkof[mulberry]andwith
itsrootdyeityellow”(Romans1776).TheMarch2017‘ItiFabvssa’featuredmulberrybarkyarn,buttheplant’srootisalsogoodasadye.Southeasternnativedye
plantsincludeblackwalnut,hickory,boisd’arc,poke,bloodroot,sumac,sassafras,dock,onion,oakandmulberry.Fromtannedhides,tobasketry,tofabric,Choctawartisansdyedanimalandplantproductsshadesofblack,brown,yellow,
orangeandred;purples,greens,andbluescouldalsooccur.Verytraditionalcolorsoftenusedwereblack,white,redandyellow.TheChoctawlanguagehasmanywordsforthedye
processlikelaknvchi,fordyeingyellow,lusachi,fordyeingblack,hummvchi,fordyeingred,lusakbichi,fordyeingbrown,orokshauvshlichi,forbleachingamaterial.ThecomingofEuropeanstoNorthAmericaandtheTrailofTearshadahugeimpactonthedyesavailabletoourpeoplein
the1700sand1800s.Duringthistime,newdyeplantslikeindigoforblueandmadderforredwerebroughtinfromotherpartsoftheworld.Choctawstradedfortheseplants,orgrewthemingardens,dyeingwiththemtocreatenewcolorsintheirclothing.WhiletheintroductionofEuropeandyesourceswereincorporatedinChoctawclothingandtextilework,thesedidnot
replacetheneedfornaturaldyes.WiththemovefromthehomelandstoIndianTerritorylateron,ouraccesstotheplantsandlandscapeshifted.Whilewestillknewmanyofthelandresourcesinournewterritory,wehadtofindnewplacestogather,adapttothe
differentmaterialsnativetotheareaanddealwiththelossofsomeofourpreciousnaturalresourcesandknowledgeovertime.Usingdyeplantsisanoldandeffectivemethodtocolormaterial.Thenecessaryelementsfordyingatextileincludewater,acontainer,heat,dyematerial(bark,roots,flowers,stems,leaves,
etc.),andfinallythematerialtodye.Inaddition,manypeopleuseamordant.Amordantistheingredientthatmakesthedyechemicallybondwiththetextile,to
helpthecolorlastthroughwashingsandexposuretolight.Mordantscouldbefoundastanninsinbarkornuthulls,inalum,orinmetalslikeiron,copperandtin.Forourancestors,thesemordantslikelycamefromtheironinthepotsthatcontainedthedyebath,ornaturallythedyeof
barksornuthulls.Adyecouldcomeoutadifferentcoloreverytimeifanypartoftheprocessisdifferent.Choctawwomenmaking,coloringanddecoratingtheirclothingorbasketrywouldhavebeenabletomakeahugevarietyof
colorshades.IninterviewswithChoctawsinthe1930s,afewindividualsrecalledspecificplantsandprocessesthey,ortheirmothersused
fordyeingandmakingclothing.Onewomandescribedherowndyeprocessasfollows,“IusedtosavethejuicefrompokeberriessothatIwouldhavedyeandredpaintallyearwhentheberrieswereoutof
season.Tomakeadyethatwon’tfadeyouhavetoputsaltor[copper]inthesolution.RedOakbarksolutionmakesaratherpurplecolor.Withindigoyoumakeallshadesofblue,greenwalnuthullsmakeatanorbrowncolorandjusttheotherdayIcoloredafewthingswithwalnuthulls”(Cherry1937).Choctawwomenapplieddyestoyarn,wovenfabric,orevenpaintedthemonclothsurfacestocreatepatterns.TomColvin,aLouisiananativeandmasterbasketweaver,recentlysharedseveraltraditionalChoctawrecipesfordyeingriver
cane.WhenTomcametoChoctawcountry,hegaveadyeworkshopwhereweusedsassafrasroots,bloodrootandblackwalnut
hullstodyetextiles.Throughoutourhistory,ourpeoplehavecreatedincredibleartwithgreatexpertiseandknowledgeofournaturalresources.TheHistoricPreservationDepartmentholdsmonthlyworkshopstocollectivelylearntraditionaltextiletechniques.Ifyouhaveknowledgetoshareabouttraditionaltextilesorwouldliketojoinusinlearningaboutourprecioustraditional
textilearts,[email protected](800)522-6170ext.2512.
References
Cherry,L.,1937.InterviewwithL.W.Wilson.,17,pp.367–386.WesternHistoryCollections,UniversityofOklahoma,Norman,Oklahoma.
Romans,Barnard.AConciseNaturalHistoryofEastandWest-Florida.NewYork,1776.
Sassafrasrootdyebath
Blackwalnuthulldyebath
Dyeingwithbloodroot
TomColvinandparticipantsofthedyeworkshop
