User:Kyla

From NarratingLandscapes

My name is Kyla Hynes and I am beginning my masters at University of British Columbia in anthropological archaeology this fall. I did my undergrad at Memorial University where I studied archaeology, physical anthropology and folklore. My field work has included excavations/research in Newfoundland in such communities as: Port Au Choix, Ferryland, St. Johns, Barneed and Fleur de Lys. Some of my interests include: identity, gender, landscapes, phenomenology, multivocalism, folklore and how the past serves the present.

I currently live in New Westminster, where I like to do Tae Kwon do, cook and bake new things, play piano, and relax with multiple cups of tea. My first love is painting and drawing and I spend lots of time doing those things when I should be doing something else. See my proposal for the class project below.

I visited India in May 2008. This Picture is of me with a massive, yet tasty Jackfruit in Mangalore.

Project Proposal:

My research will focus on the experience of making natural dyes using plant materials, specifically those found locally in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Throughout the world, and in British Columbia specifically, people traditionally used plant materials to color their worlds for many thousands of years. However, synthetic materials have largely replaced these natural dye materials. Although natural organic fabrics still have a place in modern society and are readily available, the application of natural plant dyes is virtually unheard of in our modern world.

One of the prevailing themes of our Ethnobotany class is our relationship with our surrounding landscapes, as well as the different ways we know and experience them (Wyndham, July 28 2008). We have explored narratives of the past, such as Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden (Wilson 1987) and Delphina Cuero’s biography (Shipek 1990), that invoke intimate relationships with and knowledge of the ecological environment. However, in examining these narratives, we are all implicitly aware of our present context in which there is an extreme lack of connection with and knowledge about our local environment. This awareness of our modern context makes the disconnection with the local plant world a recurring topic in class and on our wiki page, specifically in reflections on our visit to UBC Farm Assignment 1.

Because of this awareness of our lack of knowledge about how to constructively use the landscape around us, and in light of the current trend towards “greener” lifestyles, it is tempting to imagine how most would manage if they found themselves devoid of modern materials and technology, suddenly requiring different ways of knowing, like that of Buffalo Bird woman (Wilson 1987) and Delphina Cuero (Shipek 1990), to make use of the world around them. It is this imagined scenario that inspired me to decide to gather local plant materials and experiment with them. Although dyeing was technically not an essential part of survival in the past, it still required extensive knowledge about the plant world and it is this idea that intrigues me in light of the modern movement towards the artificial. The concept behind this proposed project is to imagine that you needed to make a local dye kit (the idea of a "local kit" is taken from classmate Heather who discussed creating a local medicinal kit from plant materials). What plants would you use? Where would you find these? How would you prepare them?

Because this is a project concerning landscapes and knowing, I would like to record my experience of attempting to find and prepare local plant materials for dyeing through journal entries and photographs, in order to give a sort of “phenomenological tour” of the journey (Wyndham Jul 29, 2008). I will find and collect plants that were traditionally used as dyeing materials by local First Nations (as found in Turner 2006; Varner 2002). With the use of modern plant dyeing guides (such as Cannon 2002) I will attempt to prepare them, recording the process and creating “recipes.” Due to modern limitations and regulations, I will likely be using old pots and pans instead of a fire. Conceptually, this is still related to traditional dyeing through asking the question of how we could use natural plant dyes in our modern environment. Ideally, I would like to experiment with natural fibres. I will also perhaps try out some wool, which is apparently the common fabric for amateur dyers like myself (Cannon 2003, 11), and some different mordants/bonding materials, instead of the urine, which was traditionally used in British Columbia (Turner 2006, 42). For my wiki contribution, I would like to create a main page with plant profiles and separate pages for my journal entries.

Works Cited:

Cannon, John and Margaret. 2003. Dye Plants and Dyeing. Portland: Timber Press

Shipek, Florence Connolly. 1991. Delphina Cuero: her autobiography, an account of her last years, and her ethnobotanic contributions. Menlo Park: Ballena Press.

Turner, Nancy J. 2006. Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press

Varner, Collin. 2002. Plants of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Vancouver: Raincoast Press. Wilson, G.T. 1987. Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden. Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society Press pp. 22-67.

Wyndham, Felice. 2008. Anth 462 lectures