Stinging Nettle, in various species of the genus Urtica, was an important resource for Indigenous people across the northern hemisphere of the planet. Its new shoots were eaten in the spring as a source of vitamins and minerals and the string made from its stalk was used to make everything from nets to the foundations for light clothing. See Skoglund et. al (2025) for overview of European usage.
As stinging nettle needs partial shade and mineral rich soil that contains potassium and uric acid, it grows profusely on the cultural deposits built up at old village sites.
The importance of nettle (Urtica dioica) in southern British Columbia is made clear in letters between James Douglas and the Hudson’s Bay company secretary Barclay after a sample was sent to England on the ship Columbia in 1849:
October 27, 1849: “We forward a parcel of hemp [stinging nettle] manufactured by the natives from a plant which grows abundantly, on rich, moist valleys of this Island. All the fishing tackle of the natives is made of that material, which possesses a remarkable degree of strength and durability, as compared with English Cordage. The plant producing it grows to the height of five feet, with a leaf and stalk very like the common [English] Nettle, for which it may be readily mistaken.”
August 16, 1850. Barclay reported that the sample had been tested in the form of rope and was valued at 30lbs a ton: “As the plant appears to be abundant on the Island it may become a valuable article of exportation when properly cultivated”.
Nov. 16, 1850: “I am happy to hear so favourable a report of the Vancouver’s Island Hemp, which I trust may hereafter become a valuable article of export. I will procure and forward a larger sample by next ship.” (Bowsfield 1979: 67-68; 134; 161).
On May 21, 1861, Captain George Richards while in Barkley Sound points out how village sites “which are always easily recognized by a green spot cleared of trees where sting nettles grow most luxuriously”.
While in Quatsino May 1, 1862, Richards notes the Indigenous ability to predict the weather and the “rain that makes the nettle grow – the natives manufacture lines and canoe gear out of the sting nettles, as strong as hemp twine. While at the village of Acous on May 10, Richards, got cedar twine and “also some of the fibre of the nettle – the latter much the strongest, I should say as strong as the flax, if not stronger” (Dorricott and Cullon 2012:170&273-274).
The Prepared Nettle String
Nettle fibres are made in different sizes and lengths for different kinds of twine making. They can be stored as bundles of disorganized primary single strand material or more organized secondary preparation bundles. The later involves larger straightened out and folded pieces or twisted strands that are ready to be spun onto other twisted stands. Finished material usually occurs in double or triple twisted strands ready to use. See Appendix 1. Nettle Fibre String in the Indigenous Collection of the RBCM.
Experimentation in processing of Stinging Nettle
Here I present the results of my experimentation in the processing of stinging nettle. There are differences in the literature regarding when stinging nettle was collected and how it was processed by hand and/or with specific tools. (See below – Stinging Nettle in the ethnographic literature).
My experimentation has involved the use of various tools referred to in the literature. It is important to examine what information is coming from accounts of Indigenous people who have personal experience or eye-witnesses to the process they describe.
I collected bundles of nettle that were grown in the Victoria West commons garden. I collected them at different times in the late summer and early fall when they were still flexible, but not too brittle. I let some bundles dry out for specified times before pounding and splitting them. I soaked some bundles of nettle whole for specified times and other bundles were pounded to separate the larger fibres before soaking. They were soaked for specified times and then dried for specified times before splitting them.
Soaking for more than two days made the fibres too friable even after they were dried for longer periods of time. Dried nettles that were not soaked could be split but were often too brittle and resulting in the production of more waste material.
Stinging Nettle in the Ethnographic Literature.
Anthropologist Franz Boas collected information in 1888-1889: “Nettles serve for making ropes and nets. They are cleaned between a pair of shells, then split with a bone needle, dried, and finally peeled. The fibres are then spun on the thigh. Another fibrous plant called etca’muk, which is found on the Fraser River, is traded for and used for making nets” (Boas 1890:15). The latter is Indian hemp, Apocynum cannabinum, that was widely used in the Interior and sometimes traded to the coast. (Turner 1998:136-137).
Boas reported that “formerly a bone knife was used” when cutting nettle near the base. The “stems are split with nail of the thumb”. After stripping and twisting in a fold they are beaten with the butt end of a small wedge. When in small bundles they are pulled over a rib-bone of a bear. This would result in polish on the bone.
Boas noted: “In spinning stinging nettle-fibre four different sizes of thread are recognized” For netting two single threads were spun together. The same method was used for the Mt. goat hair and yellow cedar. (Boas 1909:373).
Central southern coast
Anthropologist Wayne Suttles noted that nettle fibre twine was made by both sexes, but more often by women. It was gathered in early August. If earlier it was too green and later to week. It was split open and hung in the house. When partly dry the pith was scraped out of the inside. When dry the outer layer broke up into fine particles which she scrapped of by drawing the strands through the valves of a sea mussel shell. The remaining fibres were twisted on the thigh. There were different thicknesses for different purposes. Tolling lines for fishing were two ply and harpoon lines four ply braided. A slow downward motion twisted the fibres into two strands, followed by a rigorous upward stroke which rolled two strands into a two-ply twine. It lasted two years if it was dried after use (Suttles 1974:236).
Edward Curtis discusses how the robes made of various animal and plant fibres included a more substantial robe that had warp strings of nettle fibre:
“The nettle stalks were first split and hung up to dry, and then gently beaten with a club. Held in clusters by the ends they were combed with a fine-toothed yew instrument until all the pith and the woody substance were gone and only the fine, strong filaments left. These were twisted into a long thread, which was doubled and retwisted while simultaneously the loose mixture of down and hair was fed into it. A few repetitions of this process of doubling, twisting, and taking up down produced a very strong yet soft and fluffy cord” (Curtis 1913).
John Humphreys of the Chemaines Reserve noted in 1905, that nettle was used for head bands (ZEmatEn), dip nets and duck nets among the Quamichan. “In Quamichan the nettle was called tsEX”. (Humphreys 1905).
“Nets were made of nettle fibers of which the stalks, after gathering, were dried, split into strips with bone knives. The outer skin was used, after beating & separating the fibres, these were rolled into two=ply string on the thigh” (Humphreys 1905).
Among the Saanich “The stems were cut in – October, split lengthwise with a bone needle, and dried for five or six days outside, then dried further over a fire”. (Turner and Hebda 2012:146-147).
Lower Fraser River
In Charles Newcombe’s notes on material sent to the American Museum of Natural History he notes:
“Indian Hemp. Shpatmitl. Prepared by beating to remove the woody portions, and now ready to twist into strings by rubbing on the knee (Newcombe 1903).
In the story of The Voyage of Swanisit recorded by anthropologist Diamond Jenness in the mid-1930s, an explanation is given for the origin of the various salmon species on the Fraser River. Women were brought to a meadow where they were asked to collect long nettle stalks for making dip nets:
“Removing the outer coverings of the plants, she separated the fibres into two strands, which she softened by drawing them through a cleft sick and spun into twine on her thigh” (Jenness 1960).
Puget Sound
Bernhard Stern provides one of the most detailed accounts of the use and processing of nettles from his own observations and from information obtained from Indigenous people that were alive in the mid-19th century:
“Gill nets, submerged duck nets, suspended duck nets, dip nets and spread nets are made from the bark of nettles which are gathered in early fall as soon as the plant gets firm. After they are split and dried in the sun, a woman takes the split nettles and rubs them with the skin side downward over a thin wood board made for that purpose. As the nettle is worked over this thin edge all the brittle substance breaks away from the fine fibres of the plant.
The net cord is prepared in the same way from both the willow bark and the nettle. When a sufficient amount of fibre is gathered the woman takes enough of the fibre in her left hand to make a cord one-eighth or one-twelfth of an inch thick. She makes a knot on the end of the fibers to prevent them from unravelling, separates the loose ends of the fibres, places them on the bare skin of her leg, below the knee, and with the palm of her right hand pressing the fibre against her leg, she makes a slow downward stroke which twists the fibres in two yarns. Then with a vigorous upward stroke the two yarns are rolled together to make the cord. The loose ends of the cord are always kept separate in two parts and other fibres are worked into these ends as the work proceeds, care being taken to keep the cord as near size as possible. The cord is wound into a ball upon a reel by tying together two sticks about six inches long.
Two cords are then tied in knots at intervals to make the desired size mesh for the net. A thin board measuring sixteen or twenty inches in length and from four to six inches is set firmly in the ground. A length of the cord is thrown around one edge of the board and a reef knot is made by crossing the cords at the other edge of the board, twisting them with a right turn, then crossing them again and making another twist. The knot is tied first on one side of the board then on the other, and the process is repeated till the desired number of meshes are made for the depth of net needed; gill nets have twelve to eighteen meshes, submerged duck nets ten, suspended duck nets twelve, spread nets, and each of the five sections of the reef net are twenty-four meshes wide and forty meshes long, the meshes being about four inches. The board is sometimes omitted and the fingers are used instead” (Stern 1934:93-94).
Erna Gunther observed among the Klallam of the Olympic Peninsula: “Twine is made of nettle bark from which the barbs have been scraped with a mussel shell knife. The nettle is them dried, cut open and the pithy center removed. It is soaked in water and then dried. The twine is made by rubbing the nettle on the bare thigh. No spindles are ever used for this. In spinning the ends are joined” (Gunther 1927:220).
“In almost this entire area the bark of the nettle is peeled, dried, and rolled on the thigh into a two-ply string”. It was not used by the Cowlitz. “Used for duck net by Lummi, Snohomish, and Slokomish” (Gunther 1945:28).
Edward Curtis indicates that the people of Shoalwater Bay made a blanket of narrow strips of raccoon skins that were hung as warp threads and strung together on a series of hemp threads that were drawn through with a bone needle (Curtis 1913:44). He noted that in the general area: “The nettle stalks are split,hung up to dry and beaten gently. Then they are held in clusters by the ends and combed with a yew wood comb until all pithy and woody substances are gone” (Curtis 1913:221).
Myron Eells mentions that nettle as well as Hazel and willow bark was used for making strings (Eells 1887:618) and nettle used for bow strings in addition to gut (Eells 1985:153). He notes the sizes of string used in making nets as being 1/16th inch [3mm] to 1/8 inch [6mm] in diameter and “made by hackling and twisting of the outer fibre of the nettle” (Eells 1985:176).
Although local nettle was primarily used there was some “Hemp” used for: “The nets and seines, manufactured from the grass imported from beyond the Cascade mountains, deserve mention as very well made, the twine being perfectly even and well twisted” (Gibbs 1877:220).
West Coast Vancouver Island
Vincent Koppert Collected information in 1923 and 1928 in the Opitsit-Clayoquot area.
“Nettle bark” herring net (Tse chitl). 4 feet square at top tapering – cone shaped. Mesh ½ or 5/8 inches [12mm–16mm]. Nettle bark (neghl mau ptl) duck net (tle ghei yin im [me]). “reeds are cut in June” and “bark is immediately hand peeled and them soaked in salt water for two weeks”. “Soaking causes it to become hard and white. While still wet, it is scraped clean and thin, and then left in the sun to dry thoroughly. Next it is teased into tiny threads” – “easily split” the threads are twisted between thigh and palm. Two or more twisted together. Twine wrapped around a cedar stick. A needle (niech ek) is used for pulling the thread in making the mesh” (Koppert 1930:69-76).
Nuxalk (Bella Coola)
Nettle is used in making net twine (Smith in Compton et al. 1996:136).
One of the plants mentioned in The Dance of the Tally Post. Women make “a very long and strong rope of nettle fibre” – used by man to get to the sky (McIlwraith 1948:200, Vol 2). Olachen nets of nettle were stored in boxes during the winter. Made “By rolling the material on their legs, they produced a thin twine; five strands of this are then interwoven, making a finished cord capable of resisting great strain”. Nets are constructed by the men – purse-like sack, oval in cross-section, open at one end and tapering to other. 30ft long, opening 8 ft and end 3ft. “A new net is dipped in a mixture of boiled hemlock-bark to darken it, and then boiled in a solution of willow-bark to prevent the knots from slipping” (McIlwraith 1948:535, Vol 2). [recorded as Urtica Lyalli Wats].
Haida Gwai
The Haida word for nettle fibre, ahxada, literally means net (Newcombe 1897 in Turner 2004:158). Roots and young shoots eaten – (Turner 2004:158). White stem fibre from dried mature nettles spun for twine & netting (Newcombe 1897 in Turner 2004:158). A now extinct Haida lineage were by tradition the first people to weave nettle fibre nets on Haida Gwaii (Turner 2004:158).
Tsimshian
Nettles used for nets. Gathered and tied bundles. Taken in house and spread out. Split with a sharp piece of wood. Dried in sun and peeled. Dried, “then the outer bark is peeled off with implements made of ribs of mountain goats”. Fibre is twisted with thick of thumb on thigh. Fibre thread tied to mesh-stick of hard wood four fingers wide and as long as the palm of the hand. A nettle salmon net is 20 fathoms long and 20 meshes wide. The top of the net is made of cedar bark line (Boas 1916, p. 396).
Gitksan
“The Gitksan Indians spun the fibre of this plant into cord used chiefly for fish nets, but also for such purposes as to tie boxes and blankets and for one element in woven tump lines” (Smith 1927:168).
“Among the Gitksan, according to Luke Fowler, May 24, 1926, nettles were gathered in August and the fibre was made into thread for nets and for the short cross element in pack straps. If gathered later the plant would be too hard” (Smith in Compton et al 1996:136). Urtica doica seen by Smith at Kitwang August 9, 1925. The Gitksan did not use it for making rope according to Abraham Fowler, August 9, 1925.
Southwest United States
Ebeling indicated that Urticaceae (Nettle family) was in general use for “clothtes, construction, crafts”. Hoary nettle (Urtica holosericea) was: “A source of strong cordage – Kawaiisu. The outer layer of stem was beaten off and separated into long strands. “These were moistened and two or three of them were rolled together on the thigh to form a strong cord used for heavy duty tasks” and “used to make carrying nets and rabbit nets” (Ebeling 1986:219 & 307).
Indian Hemp (Dogbane), Aprocynum cannabinum glaberrimun was used for making carrying bags, rabbit drive nets, dip nets used in streams, large sea dip nets, fishing lines (Ebeling 1986:326-327).
Alfred Kroeber observed that among the Yurek of California, nettle string was split with a “artifical thumb-nail or mussel shell” (Kroeber 1953:214).
Appendix 1. Nettle Fibre String in the Indigenous Collection of the RBCM
Artifact RBCM10258 was collected by Charles Newcombe from the Northern Moachaht in 1912, and noted as being used in net making. This is a rough bundle of single strand stinging nettle fibres before its preparation for hand twisting or spinning.
Nettle Fibre for mixing with dog hair.
Very fine nettle strips were used for mixing with dog hair and other materials such as the plume from fireweed, cotton tree fluff or bird down. Newcombe’s note for RBCM13645B is: “Nettle fibre prepared & used by aboriginals in making their blankets of Dog hair”. The latter, due to its short uniform sections, is likely the material twisted with the dog hair and other materials in making the twine, rather than material acting as the warp or weft of the woven items. This material is literally ¼ the thickness of nettle prepared for making nets.
Nettle fibre bundles, RBCM13651A and B, each include the same very fine nettle strips, but RBCM13645A is only prepared in a rough form compared to the strait pieces of part B. A different and what might be a later note, is attached to RBCM13645A that is not in Charles Newcombe’s handwriting, is of a generalized nature: “Nettle fibre – fiber used by natives of this coast for making headbands, rugs & nets”.
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