For example, among the Crow, the color black was a symbol for ictory; arrow symbols might mean a hunt or a battle.

Each group had its own set of meanings for colors and designs to use on ceremonial crafts. These symbols could be drawn on a leather pouch or a drum skin to retell a myth or relate an important event. Sometimes the maker of a ghost shirt or some other ceremonial object had a dream that reealed what design to use.

The decoratie art on many everyday objects had no special meaning. Sometimes a geometric design might be called "butterfly" because the triangle shapes together on a basket looked like a butterfly.

Usually, the only way to find out if a design was supposed to be a symbol with meaning was to ask the maker. Designs that showed people, birds, and animals were usually created by men. Women worked more with geometric shapes.

Color was important to add meaning to a design, too. Most Natie Americans named four points of the earth, the four directions of the compass -north, south, east, and west -and assigned a color to each one.

Among the Cherokee, north was blue, south was white, east was red, and west was black. Colors could also mean life or death, wax or peace, female or male, night or day. For example, the Naaho thought black represented men and blue, women.

The Hopi thought that the color blue was the most sacred and used it to honor their gods.

Here are some of the other meanings attached to colors:


 

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Black: night, underworld, male, cold, disease, death.

Blue: sky, water, female, clouds, lightning, moon, thunder, sadness

Greven: plant, life, earth, summer, rain

Red: sounds, sunset

White: winter, death, snow

Yellow: sunshine, day, dawn

Natural Dyes

Natie Americans used plant materials to make beautiful, soft colors to dye wool, cotton, and other fibers. They made almost every color, though shades of yellow were the easiest to produce. Listed below are some of the plants Natie Americans used for coloring. Experiment making natural dyes with these or other plants in your enironment. As a general rule, if the plant part is hard, like bark or sticks, pound or grind it to loosen the fibers; if it's soft, like flower petals or berries, use it as is. Wash the plant material first. Then put it, ground up or whole, in a large enameled pot and fill the pot with water. (Metal pots may change the color, though sometimes that produces an interesting result.) Boil until the color is a little darker than you'd like. Strain the dye material out and add a little salt and baking soda to the colored water, or dye bath. For a more permanent dye, add a teaspoon of alum, aailable from a hardware or crafts store.

To dye wool or heay cloth, soak it in warm water before putting it in the dye bath. Let it boil in the dye bath for about an hour and then let it cool in the pot. To dye raffia, thread, or thin cloth, soak them in the dye bath for several hours. Rinse all dyed materials several times in cold water. Then hang them up to dry -away from direct sunlight or heat, which may cause bleaching.