Agavaceae Yucca baccata Torr.

Banana Yucca

Zuni - Fiber, Clothing

Use documented by:
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, 1915, Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians, SI-BAE Annual Report #30, page 78

View all documented uses for Yucca baccata Torr.

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Scientific name: Yucca baccata Torr.
USDA symbol: YUBAB (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Banana Yucca
Family: Agavaceae
Family (APG): Asparagaceae
Native American Tribe: Zuni
Use category: Fiber
Use sub-category: Clothing
Notes: Leaf fibers used in weaving fabrics. The leaves were folded about four inches in length and tied with a fragment of the leaf. These folds were boiled with a small quantity of cedar ashes. When sufficiently cooked, the leaves were placed in a bowl or basket and cooled. When the leaves were cooled, youths and young women peeled off the epidermis, and chewed the leaves starting at one end and progressing to the other. After chewing the leaves, the fibers were separated, straightened out, tied with fiber strings and hung in an inner room to dry. When required for weaving, the fibers were soaked in water to soften them.

RECRD: 32906 id: 43977

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