veiny dock

Artifacts/Material use: Yellow and red dye is made from roots and dried leaves. Additional commentary: The roots are cut in small pieces and boiled. After the infusion has cooled, the feathers, quills, or hair to be dyed are put in the water to be dyed yellow. If a deep color is desired, the materials are left all night in a covered vessel; immersion for a shorter time produces a paler color. If a red dye is required, ashes are put in the yellow dye liquid, which is boiled again and allowed to cool, when it becomes red. The strength of the color is varied by longer or shorter immersions. If a black dye is needed, the bark is taken from red-willow shoots, scorched and pounded fine, and put in a red or yellow dye and boiled again.

Artifacts: The peeled root makes a burnt orange dye Commentary: The procedure was recorded among the children of the Wind River Community Day School: “We break the roots into inch pieces. We then spread them out very thin on papers. We place them in the sun. We let it get very dry. After it is very dry we put it into water. We let it soak for a few days. We then boil it in the water it has soaked in. After it has boiled a long time we put some alum in it. This sets the color.”209