Native American: Dakota Weaving Plants Workshop with Fern Naomi Renville (Southwest)

Not so very long ago, in the Dakota homelands of Imnizaska (St Paul), Sisseton Tribal people relied on our knowledge of and ancestral relationships with native plants - including stinging nettle, bulrush, cattail, willow, basswood, cedar, ash, elm, and spruce root - to create cordage, rope, nets, woven textiles, and shelter. Please join us for a learning journey of reconnecting with our plant relatives. All participants will learn about Dakota weaving plants and traditions, how to twine fibers into cordage, and how to apply what you learned to exploring oth local plant fibers. Fern is a 2022-2023 Native Artist in Residence at the Minnesota Historical Society, where she has been researching the role of nettles in Dakota material culture.

ENGLISH NAME: Common Stinging Nettle / Urtica Dioica

SISSETON DAKOTA NAME: Hosbe [hosh-BAY]

OTHER DAKOTA NAMES FOR UTICA DIOICA: Chanicahpehu and pazipa are two other names for nettle used by Dakota communities.

DAKOTA NAME FOR STRING OR CORDAGE: Wikan [WEE-KAHN]… derived from the root words for ‘sun’ and ‘braid’. DAKOTA WORD FOR WEAVING: Opazan (to weave something)

Fern Naomi Renville is a storyteller, artist, playwright, and enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. 

Note:  This is a 4-part workshop.

If class is full, please enroll for the waitlist. We will contact you if a space becomes available.