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berries, roots of wild plants, and maple syrup. Foods requiring cooking were
placed in bark or clay containers and heated by repeatedly adding hot stones.
Skins of animals provided clothing and shelter, the sinews a strong sewing
and 
binding material. The skin of the neck of the snapping turtle made the best
bowstring. Cattail leaves were woven into mats used in wigwam building and
the fluff from the cattail seed heads was used for dressings and cradle board
padding. (One of the first disposable diapers?) Fibers from nettle plants
were 
made into fish nets. Basswood trunks made dugout canoes. Wood for bows and
arrows was ash or hickory. While he made use of nature's bounty in such 
ingenious ways, the Indian showed a reverence for things in nature and was
a true 
conservationist. His attitude toward protecting the pure water of the tribal
spring 
illustrates this as does the Indian tradition that land is not owned by the
members 
here today but is held in trust to be used, cared for, and passed on to future
generations. 
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