Theme: Bringing Art to Life in Schoolyards

Native Roots
Students Create Natural Tepee Paints

A fascination with the history and design of tepees inspired Barbara Arrowroot's fourth graders in Heart Butte, MT, to delve into local plants in search of color. "My students, who are Blackfeet Indians, make historical cultural connections by creating and designing small tepees," reports Barbara. Once they have cut tepee patterns from canvas, students naturally are eager to paint designs on them. Before they can do so, however, Barbara challenges them to locate, identify, and experiment with local plants.

"The first task is for pairs of students to visit natural areas around the school in search of indigenous plants they think will produce a color," says Barbara. Any plant part — leaves, roots, bark, flowers, berries — will do. Back in class, students observe their plants and use science journals to draw their specimens, predict what color(s) will be produced, and explain their reasoning. "Students often use local people as resources for identifying current and historical names for plants they've collected and for learning about how they've been used in that region," says Barbara. "Because we don't have a rich diversity of native plants in this area, we have also tried some garden plants and other plant-based materials, such as red cabbage, coffee, and tea."

Plant material in hand, the young scientists' next challenge is to consider how they'll extract colors from the plant parts they've gathered. "Although students have tried different techniques, such as crushing the plants, there are almost always kids who suggest boiling the plant parts in water," notes Barbara. Using a hot plate, distilled water, stainless dye pot, and other tools, the class tests its theories. They break, mash, or shred the plant parts into smaller pieces, then simmer them in the water to create the dye bath. After straining out the plant material, students steep their canvas pieces in the brew.

"The students often note that plant-based colors seem muted, such as the pale purplish of Oregon grapes, so they experiment with different dyeing conditions, such as amount of water in the pot or time the fabric steeps," says Barbara. She notes that some of the youngsters' colored canvas swatches support their predictions, while others bring surprises. For instance, red cabbage, which they naturally assume should create a reddish color, instead imparts a yellow hue.

Before using their homemade dyes to paint their tepee replicas, students learn about the meanings, histories, and locations of specific designs. For instance, the bottom part of the structure often features triangular patterns, to signify mountains, and the flaps often have circles that represent the stars. "The designs in the middle are typically unique to families and should never be copied," explains Barbara. By interviewing their families, she adds, students learned about the spiritual associations linked to certain designs and colors.

Barbara notes that students are always excited to actually get colors out of plants. But that's not all they reap through this project. "The kids begin to look much more closely at their environment and appreciate it in new ways."

Author: Eve Pranis

 

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Contents

1.	Introduction
2.	Teaching Art in a Garden Oasis
3.	The Art Garden
4.	Lessons to Dye For
5.	Dyeing to Get Started
6.	Dyeing Across the Curriculum
7.	Weaving Understanding
8.	Private Eye Seed Sleuths
9.	Budding Artists Capture Flowers
10.	The Gourd Explored
11.	Native Roots
12.	Resources

Plant-based Dye Kit
Study the historical and cultural uses of plants as dye sources.

Make Your Own Kaleidoscope
Combine various elements and create and endless number of inspiring images.

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