Agavaceae Agave utahensis Engelm.

Utah Agave

Havasupai - Fiber, Brushes & Brooms

Use documented by:
Weber, Steven A. and P. David Seaman, 1985, Havasupai Habitat: A. F. Whiting's Ethnography of a Traditional Indian Culture, Tucson. The University of Arizona Press, page 212

View all documented uses for Agave utahensis Engelm.

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Scientific name: Agave utahensis Engelm.
USDA symbol: AGUTU (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Utah Agave
Family: Agavaceae
Family (APG): Asparagaceae
Native American Tribe: Havasupai
Use category: Fiber
Use sub-category: Brushes & Brooms
Notes: Used to make brushes for the hair and for cleaning grinding stones. To make the brushes, the dried matter of a dead and rotten leaf was knocked free from the fibers, which were then bent in two. The upper end of this brush was wrapped with a cord and the bent portion was covered with buckskin or cloth. The loose fibers were cut to the right length and hardened by burning the ends.

RECRD: 7187 id: 1867

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