Cattail Mats

Around dusk looking up towards overcast skies I felt cretin the end was near. It was defiantly going to rain. Looking up at my cattail roof – weeks in the making – I could see long leaves bundled tightly enough on the top and bottom edges of the roof, but in the middle of the mats I was looking through my roof at thin, almost transparent cattails leaves silhouetted by a darkening overcast sky. As I lay there looking up at the not so distant storm clouds I did wonder some about what I could have done differently so that I could be sitting in my earth shelter in confidence feeling protected from the rain. For whatever reason my first set of cattail mats did not seem to have the shingling effect I had read about and hoped for and judging by their appearance had no hope of protecting me from the rain.

I tried to take advantage by relaxing as much as I could before the storm hit. I wondered how much longer before the rain and how cold it might get, even becoming impatient. Although my cattail mat roof experiment seemed an imminent and cretin disaster I was determined to spend at least one cold rainy night getting soaked in my failed shelter even if only to shiver and wonder what exactly had gone so terribly wrong with my life that it had come down to this, wasting weeks making a cattail mat roof which was about to leave me shivering in darkness, rain water and mucus dripping off my blue lips and mashed between shivering teeth then washing away with it and sending off on some cool breeze in the night all the pride of one who imagines himself capable of such things. Washing away all the denial that such an ill conceived project could possibly come together in some positive way. I figured before the week is over I’d be living in the post office which, incidentally, it turns out a 24-hour access PO box is as legal a place as any to spend the night – it’s like paying for a post office box and getting rent for free.

Looingk up at my cattail mat roof, looks nice in the fire light.

Then it happened. About 45 minutes before dark, a light drizzle then a slow steady rain and within few hours a down poor. Despite all known universal physics, my empirical observations and analysis, something completely unexpected happened. My holey cattail mats somehow were keeping the rain out except for during the heaviest of squalls. Somehow even the most scrappily made cattail mat can keep you dry and warm. A moment of imminent disaster turned into a pleasant, if not cozy, evening in the rain. All I can really say about it is there’s magic in traditional cattail mats and intention is among the most powerful forces in the natural universe.

If I can do it anybody can, cattails mats make for excellent wilderness shelter material.

• Cattails can be found in abundance, mostly in low lying wet lands.
• After drying they are long lasting – archeologists have uncovered cattail mats hundreds of years old.
• Cattail leaves are thick and have a pithy center, especially the thicker inner leaves, making for excellent insulation.
• Cattail leaves become almost woody when they dry making them long lasting as well as water and wind repellent.
• The leaves can grow up to 8 feet long; each cattail mat is essentially a six foot wall (and sometimes a double wall depending on your methodology).
• Cattail mats are light weight – much lighter then buffalo hide or canvas – and if well made (mine were not) can be rolled up and utilized as a packs when moving to a new camp.
• Cattail mats do an amazing job of trapping heat while passing smoke, roof mats eventually become smoked over time and smell like sage, cedar, mints or whatever smoke you choose to coat them with.
• The mats are beautiful to look at especially by firelight on cold, windy, rainy nights when reassurance is a premium.

My decision to use cattails was somewhat random. Sometime around July I decided to commit three years to learning survival skills in a serious way. One of the first priorities was getting some kind of shelter together. I knew I would build a wigwam of some sort using saplings but was unsure of what to use to cover and insulate it. Canvas was one option and I even purchased a piece of canvas but it had an icky factory smell and felt like too much of a departure from purist ideals (that is to say my preference is to learn survival skills using as few modern ‘man made’ tools and material as possible – although it should be noted canvas was used by Native Americans once available).

While wondering about one day I stumbled into patch of cattails and instinctively knew, just by looking at them, that they could be used for shelter. Two immediate indicators of their practicality included there length at almost 8 feet tall and there slow deterioration – go into any patch of cattails and you’ll find the passage somewhat challenging due to the tangled remains of cattails from seasons past.

I did some research into using cattails for shelter and discovered it common practice for eastern and mid-western Native Americans it use cattails mats as covering for their wigwams. In fact cattail mat and bark covered wigwams were probably a more common dwelling for Native Americans than tipis. What really had me convinced that cattail mats were the way to go for a long term primitive dwelling was that Native American tribes in the Northeast lived in them. Something I probably should have known having grown up in Boston. Winter in the Northeast can be brutal. I’ll be leaving for NH tomorrow, already six inches of snow there; it’ll be 9 degrees Saturday night.

Inside of a cattail mat wigwam at Plymouth Plantation in Boston.

Cattail mats brought me back to my Boston roots in unexpected ways. Plymouth Plantation is a living museum of early American colonial life located about an hour south of Boston Massachusetts near Cape Code. It’s the location where the first Pilgrims settled what would later become America. Thing about Boston is although it’s not exactly the kind of scene associated with taking up an interest in wilderness survival skills Boston is deeply steeped in Colonial American history (think Mayflower, Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, etc.) including the Native American story. Growing up in the Boston public school system one gets a lot of exposure to early American history including annual field trips to Plymouth Plantation, usually around Thanksgiving time. When I returned to Plymouth Plantation for an up-close look at cattail dwellings I reconnected with the early fascination I had with Native American societies.  Like a familiar sent, I was reminded that this fascination of mine with wilderness survival goes back to my earliest years.  Although I took about a 5 year break to work in a miserable cube my seemingly new foray into wilderness living is in fact not so new to me at all. I’ve always wanted to experience living life minimally and close to the Earth, despite some of the hardships it’s what makes me happy, and although I may be inept, this is my disposition.

At times my investigations into cattail mat wigwams were like uncovering secret knowledge. Although making cattail mats was a common practice in pre-colonial America finding good information on the methods used proved difficult. The first methodology I tried came from sewing cattail mats, a really informative website on cattail mat construction made by Elizabeth Schultz for a senior archaeology thesis at the University of Wisconsin.  As recommended on her site I picked up a copy of Chippewa Mat-Weaving Techniques by Karen Peterson which Elizabeth made reference to and got to work.

I was immediately surprised at how long it takes to make a full sized cattail mat. Not including gathering time one can easily take an entire day to complete one full sized eight foot long mat. In truth I never made a sewed mat longer then about six feet. Even so it took all day to get about one mat completed. It’s not particularly strenuous work but it is defiantly time consuming. Being that this was my first time attempting such a thing and I was not really sure my effort would be worthwhile only made the endeavor more discouraging. I tried to Zen out as much as possible and focus on the purpose of what needed to be done. After all I was building more than just a place to sleep and stay dry and intention is everything.

Setting out some cattails to dry before heading out to the tracker school for a few weeks.

After the first round of about six cattail mats was completed I figured I had enough for a single layer of mats to go all the way around the roof of my dwelling. I knew I would be better off if I made some more mats. At the same time (around early October) I was preparing for a road trip to the Tracker School in NJ. I decided to gather more cattails and leave them on a drying rack covered with a tarp while I was gone.

For this second round of gathering I rented a truck from Bundies Car and Detail in Mitchell Indiana. Bundy’s got a full size pickup that he’ll rent you for $30 a day. Runs fine for a vehicle with almost 200K miles on it, problem is the gas gauge is wacky (broken). I harvested a truck load of cattails and left them on a drying rack before heading east by northeast for about three weeks.

Cattail Mats: Method Two

While on the internet looking for places I could possibly harvest bunches of cattails I came across the Piankeshaw Trails camp founded by Sheryl Hartman who – it turns out – has written several books on Native American skills and crafts including building cattail covered wigwams. I contacted her by email and she replied in kind with very detailed instructions on cattail mat construction. Her reply, including information on how to obtain a copy of her books, was as follows…

Well, I have built hundreds of wigwams and made cattail mats but right now that season has passed and I won’t be doing anymore of either.  The cattail mats are the essence of existence in winter in the Great Lakes and the Northeast.  The cattails are cut at the base of the stem, just above the root in June and July. The female of the plant species is what you want. They are usually positioned against the frame or somewhere vertically for about 2 weeks to dry thoroughly.  Then a trough of some kind or a water source is needed.  You will need long flat needles and twine.  My mentor taught me using cotton string but the string used was hemp or nettle cordage . Sinew will work but it tends to cut the leaves when pressure is applied.

Then stakes are put into the ground ALONG THE LONG EDGE OF THE CATTAILS.  If the mat is going to be four feet when finished then the stakes need to be spaced about 1 foot apart for four feet.  Two strings are attached to the first stake (top) and the cattails are selected for their strength and length.  Soak them very briefly to allow them to be pliable and fold them over one string. Wrap the second string around the folded edge and continued to lay two catails one on top of each other in opposing directions for the width of the mat.  Once the top selvege is created, then strings are attached to each stake in the middle and threaded through a needle.  Sew through the pithy part of the cattails perpendicular to them, catching the second catail with the same stitch each time.  Continue across until you have completed each row of stitches.  Trim the bottom edge evenly.  Cut the strings loose from the stakes and use them to tie to the frame of the structure.  You may need additional poles on the outside positioned horizontally around the outside to keep the cattails in place. In former ancient times, perhaps more than 300 years ago, the cattail mats served only as a liner with bark on the outside, but as descriptions are abundant in the 18th and 19th century, it appears that one or the other was chosen as the ideal covering.  Bark does not insulate at all and therefore serves only as a better cover to repel the water, ice and snow.

I have a book on Natives Along the Wabash for teachers that details the steps for building a round 16′ wigwam and hints about longhouses, furnishings, etc.  I have it now on CD with a supplemental CD on the same CD that gives more colorful info on the Natives.  It sells for $15  Send check if you would like it to

Piankeshaw Trails
RR 3 Box 642
Solsberry, IN 47459

Sheryl Hartman

This method is very similar to the first with the primary difference being that the mats are tied to the foundation string horizontally between cattail stalks. I tried it out and found both methods to be effective. In some ways tying the leaves horizontally is a bit more convenient as the leaves can get tangled up sometimes when lowering the mat for sewing using the first method.

I made about 10 mats using the first technique and 6 or so mats using the second technique. I would offer up the following advice to anyone interested in sewing cattail mats for a wigwam cover:

• Plan on gathering a lot of materials and pay attention to the season. I started gathering in August and continued until mid October. The cattails were not full grown in August, by mid October the cattails were mostly too far gone to be used.
• The knot that secures each leaf around the foundation cord is critical to obtaining the ideal shingling effect for rain proofing. Make sure each leaf is thoroughly synched down.
• The mats really should be at least six feet long for use on a shelter. The longer the better up to about twelve feet. It’s easier said than done especially if you’re working alone.
• When sewing use dry leafs. For drying I had the best results laying the cattail leafs flat over some gravel or on a drying rack. I bundled the first bunch of cattails I gathered but found the leafs where more prone to twisting and warpage while drying in bundles.
• Using boiling water helps to make the leaves pliable after drying; this is especially important when wrapping leafs around the foundation string. I found boiling water to me the most effective way to loosen up dried cattail leafs however submerging the cattail ends in cool water works too.

Cattail Mats: Method Three

A simple method for lashing cattail mats together inspired by Tom Brown.

The third and final method I used for making cattail mats is one described by Tom Brown in his Field guide to Living with the Earth. You wouldn’t think this method would even warrant a reference as it’s pretty basic but I can honestly say that as simple as it is I probably would not have tried it on my own. While I was volunteering at the tracker school I sat in on the grass mat making lecture and basically applied the same technique to cattails: simply lashing in one to four cattail leaves using doubled cordage (commercial cotton twine).
There is a lot to like about this method:

• It’s simple and has instant gratification; unlike sewing where the mat does not really take shape until you start the sewing process here one sees the mat take shape with every leaf tied in.

• Can use green leafs; do not have to dry them first.

• Can use a verity of leaves. That is to say using the sewing method you’ll get the best results if you’re choosy with the leaves you use, preferring wide and thick leafs six feet or longer. On the other hand when lashing any leaf will do. A short leaf can be lashed in with a longer one to create a nice mat from material that would not work using the sewing method.

• I tied in two to four cattail leafs at a time resulting mat is a bit heavier and would work great as an interior insulating layer.

So there it is, three methods of cattail mat construction. My plans are to try it again next season. Until then I plan to focus on food and hunting which along with fire and shelter are really the foundation of extended wilderness experience.

For more photos of the cattail making process check out my photobook: wigwam cattail mats.