How to Weave With River Cane

River cane mats can be woven with a simple weaving pattern.

River cane is a member of the grass family and is one of only two types of bamboo native to the United States. It grows along the banks of streams in the southern United States, often to the height of 20 feet. River cane is the oldest material known to be used in the baskets and mats of Native Americans. The cane is cut, split, peeled, stripped, trimmed and then dried into strips called straws. These straws are pliable and easily tinted. River cane baskets are extremely difficult to weave, but mats are much easier for a beginner.

Things You'll Need

• 40 river cane strips
• Bloodroot or black walnut hulls
• Hot water
• Masking tape

Instructions

1. Heat bloodroot or black walnut hulls in water. Add half the cane straws and soak them in the water until they reach the depth of color you want. Remove the straws and lay them flat to dry.

2. Lay 20 straws of the same color vertically, called the warp, on a table or floor. Place a strip of masking tape across the top of the straws to hold them in place. Push the straws close together.

3. Weave one straw at a time horizontally, or weft, under the first vertical straw, over the second, under the third, and so forth until you have woven it across all 20 straws. Push the horizontal straw to the top of the warp strands.

4. Weave the second horizontal straw in the same fashion, but weave it over the first vertical straw, under the second, over the third, and so on until you have woven it all the way across the vertical straws. Push it to the top of the warp strands, keeping the rows tightly together.

5. Weave the third row like the first row was done, the fourth row like the second, and so on, pushing them up to the top of the vertical straws each time until you have woven all 20 horizontal straws. Your mat should be perfectly square.

Tips & Warnings

• Take a class from a professional basket maker to learn the complicated and dying art of weaving a river cane basket, which is a watertight basket within a basket.

References

• Angelfire: Indian River Cane Baskets
• Chattoo Ga River: River Cane
• Ethnomath: Discovering Patterns and Symmetry -- Weaving