Challenge 2
Growing Into Your Clothes
Explore cash crops grown for clothing, fabrics, and textiles — and the fiber technologies that came before them.
The NASEF Prompt
"Explore the world of cash crops grown for clothing, fabrics, and textiles. Research how these crops are cultivated, processed, and turned into the materials we wear every day."
Most students will research cotton, flax, and hemp. We go deeper — into the fiber technologies of Coast Salish peoples, which predate industrial textiles by millennia and often outperform them in sustainability and material properties.
Coast Salish Fiber Technologies
The Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific NW developed some of the most sophisticated textile technologies in the pre-industrial world. These are not primitive crafts — they are engineering.
Western Red Cedar Bark
Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is the "tree of life" of the Pacific NW. Its bark provides one of the most versatile fiber materials on Earth.
Harvesting Protocol
Bark is harvested in late spring when the sap is running, making it easier to separate from the trunk. Only a strip is taken — never the entire circumference, which would kill the tree. Culturally modified trees (CMTs) from centuries of sustainable harvest still stand throughout the region.
Inner Bark Processing
The outer bark is separated from the inner bark. Inner bark is soaked, beaten with wooden beaters, and separated into progressively finer fibers. The finest inner bark fibers are as soft as cotton. Coarser fibers are used for mats, baskets, and rope.
Products
- Rain capes and hats (naturally water-resistant)
- Skirts and ceremonial garments
- Rope, cordage, and fishing nets
- Mats for flooring, walls, and bedding
- Baby cradles and diapers (shredded inner bark)
Key Facts
- Species: Thuja plicata
- Harvest: Late spring/early summer
- Sustainability: Tree survives harvest
- Properties: Water-resistant, antimicrobial, insulating
- Lifespan: Cedar trees live 1,000+ years
Stinging Nettle Fiber
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) produces bast fibers in its stems that are stronger than cotton, naturally antimicrobial, and require zero pesticides or irrigation to grow. It is a weed that wants to grow — the ultimate sustainable textile crop.
Processing Steps
- Harvest mature stalks in autumn
- Ret (soak) stalks to loosen fibers
- Break and scutch to separate fiber
- Hackle (comb) into fine strands
- Spin into thread or yarn
Advantages over Cotton
- No irrigation needed
- No pesticides required
- Grows wild in PNW climate
- Higher tensile strength
- Also edible (spring greens)
Fiber Strength Comparison
Mountain Goat Wool & Salish Weaving
Coast Salish weavers created blankets of extraordinary beauty and value from mountain goat wool. These blankets served as currency, ceremonial regalia, and insulation. The weaving patterns carry clan histories and spiritual significance.
Wool Sources
- Mountain goat: Wool gathered from bushes and rocks where goats shed, or from hunted animals
- Woolly dogs: A now-extinct breed kept specifically for wool production (see below)
- Fireweed: Cotton-like seed fluff mixed with wool for bulk
Blanket Types
- Nobility blankets: Fine twill weave with geometric patterns
- Everyday blankets: Coarser weave for warmth
- Ceremonial robes: Mountain goat wool with cedar bark warp
Cattail & Tule Mats
Cattail (Typha latifolia) and tule (Schoenoplectus acutus) are wetland plants that provided essential materials for clothing, shelter, and daily life. The flat leaves were woven into mats that served as walls, floors, rain coverings, and even temporary clothing.
- Tule mats were the primary wall and floor covering for seasonal shelters
- Cattail fluff served as insulation, wound dressings, and diaper material
- Woven cattail could be made water-resistant through tight weaving techniques
- Both plants grow abundantly in the wetlands of the Puyallup River delta
The Woolly Dogs of the Coast Salish
One of the most remarkable textile technologies in the world: the Coast Salish peoples bred a distinct lineage of small, white, wool-producing dogs. These woolly dogs were kept separate from village dogs on islands and in pens to maintain their wool quality.
Their wool was shorn, spun, and woven into blankets — making the Coast Salish one of the only peoples in the Americas to practice a form of animal husbandry specifically for textile fiber. The breed went extinct in the 19th century as Hudson's Bay Company trade blankets flooded the market.
DNA analysis of preserved woolly dog pelts confirms they were a genetically distinct lineage, carefully managed over hundreds of years. This is animal fiber technology equivalent to the sheep-herding traditions of Europe and Central Asia.
Industrial Textile Crops: A Comparison
To complete the NASEF prompt, we also research the major industrial textile crops — and contrast their environmental impacts with Indigenous fiber systems.
| Fiber | Water Use | Pesticides | Processing | Biodegradable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton | 10,000 L/kg | 16% of world insecticides | Chemical-intensive | Yes |
| Flax (Linen) | Moderate | Low | Retting + mechanical | Yes |
| Hemp | Low | None needed | Retting + mechanical | Yes |
| Stinging Nettle | Zero (rain-fed) | Zero | Retting + hand processing | Yes |
| Cedar Bark | Zero | Zero | Hand processing | Yes |
| Mountain Goat Wool | Zero (gathered) | Zero | Hand spinning & weaving | Yes |
Environmental Impact Contrasts
Industrial Cotton System
- ✗ Aral Sea nearly destroyed by irrigation diversion
- ✗ Responsible for 16% of global insecticide use
- ✗ Depletes soil nutrients; requires synthetic fertilizer
- ✗ Processing uses chlorine bleach, formaldehyde, heavy metals
- ✗ Global supply chain: 20,000+ miles seed-to-shirt
- ✗ Labor exploitation in growing and manufacturing
Coast Salish Fiber System
- ✓ Harvesting strengthens trees (bark regrowth)
- ✓ Zero chemical inputs at any stage
- ✓ Enhances ecosystem health through management
- ✓ Processing is entirely mechanical/manual
- ✓ Hyperlocal supply chain: forest-to-wearer in miles
- ✓ Production embedded in cultural and spiritual practice
Minecraft Build Guide
How to represent fiber processing and textile crops in Minecraft:
Cedar Bark Harvesting
Build tall spruce/jungle trees with stripped wood blocks showing where bark was harvested. Create a processing area nearby with cauldrons (soaking) and anvils (beating). Use brown carpet for bark strips drying on racks.
Nettle Processing Station
Plant ferns in rows for nettle fields. Build a retting pond (shallow water area). Create a spinning station with looms made from fences and string. Use item frames with string to show fiber at different processing stages.
Salish Weaving Loom
Build a large upright loom from fence posts and string. Use colored wool blocks to show blanket patterns in progress. Create a display area with finished blankets (banners with patterns) on armor stands.
Cattail Wetland
Create a wetland biome area with sugar cane (representing cattails/tule) in shallow water. Build a mat-weaving area nearby. Use green carpet and brown carpet to show completed tule mats.
Cotton/Flax Comparison Field
Build a modern industrial farm section alongside the Indigenous section. Use white wool (cotton), blue flowers (flax). Show the contrast: irrigation channels, large monoculture fields vs. diverse forest fiber systems.
Woolly Dog Pen
Use white wolves or dogs (tamed) in a fenced island area. Add shearing station (use composters and crafting tables). Signs explain the history of this unique breed and its role in textile production.
TEK8 Petals for This Challenge
The primary petal. Making, processing, transforming raw materials into finished goods. Bark into fiber, fiber into thread, thread into blanket. The craft of weaving carries knowledge across generations.
Activities: Bark processing demonstration, simple weaving projects, fiber comparison experiments, loom building
Harvesting fiber materials from the landscape. Identifying cedar trees, finding nettle patches, collecting mountain goat wool from bushes. The gather petal is about reading the land.
Activities: Plant identification walks, sustainable harvesting protocols, CMT (culturally modified tree) surveys, fiber plant mapping
Resources & Citations
Coast Salish Weaving
"Hands of Our Ancestors: The Revival of Salish Weaving at Musqueam" by Elizabeth Johnson & Kathryn Bernick; Burke Museum Coast Salish Textile Collection; Musqueam Weavers digital archive
Woolly Dogs
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History woolly dog research; "The Salish Wool Dog" by Candace Wellman; DNA analysis studies by Audrey Lin et al. (2023)
Cedar Bark Technology
Hilary Stewart, "Cedar: Tree of Life to the Northwest Coast Indians"; Royal BC Museum Indigenous plant use collection; CMT inventory databases
Industrial Textile Impact
World Wildlife Fund cotton impact reports; "The True Cost" documentary; Textile Exchange fiber reports; Organic Cotton Market Report