Raw materials are what you use to make things like houses and clothing. In past times, our raw materials were stone, animals, trees, and plants. These were the things in our "building supplies store", the land.

We had the use of any or all of these materials, but only if we learned "everything" about them. And if we treated these resources with respect. One sign of our respect was that we did not "waste". Wasting was considered to be a sign of disrespect. When you read this section, you will know why our people said a prayer of thanks for all that nature gave us.

Animals were more than food to our ancestors. They relied on animals to give other resources.

Hides

Animal hides were so important to our people. Hides were used in making clothing, our bedding, to "fill" snowshoes, for snares, to make bags, and many other uses. The hides of different animals were not the same. Each animal's hide had its "best" uses. Then, each hide might be thick or thin, depending on the time of the year it was killed. Or it might be an old animal or a young one. There was much to know about hides.

Fur

Some animals gave us furs. These were used in clothing and bedding. Sometimes they were also used as decoration on bags.

Bones, Antlers, Horns

Animals were a source of raw material for making tools, such as awls used in sewing.

Sinew

This all-purpose thread or string was made from the tendons along the backbone and legs. Sinew is made by pulling apart the tendon. It comes apart in long strings. These are rolled against the thigh to make long strings. Sewing was done without a needle. A small hole was made with an awl. The stiff sinew was poked through.

Babiche Babiche is made from caribou hide tht is cleaned, but not tanned. It is cut into very narrow strips. Long ago it used to be cut starting in the middle of the hide. For heavier "rope", the strips are cut wider. Robes with Hair-On Hide with the hair left on was used as bedding. It made a soft covering over spruce boughs. Some bags were made with the hair left on.

Antlers were used for making tools

Hair

Animal hair was used in decorating our clothing, especi ally ceremonial clothing. Goat hair was prized. It was long and soft. It did not harden when it got wet. We used to twist strands of goat hair to make long pliable strings. These were very useful in making fishing nets. Fishing nets were always wet, which did not affect the goat hair.

All parts of plants gave gifts to us. Some we ate or used as medicine. Other plants provided us with many other resources. These are some materials that we received from plants. Only some of the various uses for the materials have been described here.

Bark

Withes are made from strips of bark soaked in water. After the bark is well soaked, it is heated of a fire. This causes it to become soft and pliable. It bends easily and was then twisted to form a rope or twine.Bark was stripped off spruce in large, long pieces to be used as covering for roofs.

Roots

The roots of spruce or balsam were collected in spring. When our people were collecting the roots, they poked around under a spruce or balsam tree. T hey found a root, then lifted it gently, pulling at the same time. The root came free and was cut off. This did not hurt the tree since it has thousands of roots.

These roots were split to a few mm or about 1/4 inch. They were used as rope. Ropes from roots are more water resistant than rope from bark.

Leaves and Branches Tree branches were used in many ways. We lined cooking pits with them. We used them as "tables" to place meat on when we were cooking. This kept the food off the ground so it would stay clean. Branches from evergreen trees were used as beds. These were changed regularly, just like we wash sheets today. We put these on the roofs of our houses.

Fences were needed for the horses

Trunk or Stems

A tree trunk provided us with wood for our fires and building materials to make our homes.

Pitch

Pitch was used to make things waterproof. If it was hard, it would be heated to make it soft. Sometimes it was mixed with grease which formed a harder surface. Birchbark cooking baskets were finished this way, for example.

Stones were the hardest thing in our world in the old days. We used them as supports for the four corners of our fishing houses. They were used in making axes and spears.

Obsidian was collected from near Mt. Edziza. This shiny rock could be chipped to a very sharp edge. It was used to make knives, spears, and fish spears. Our obsidian was a popular trading item long ago.