Contemporary Knowledge of Dye Plant Species and NaturalDye Use in Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq1

EVAN MATI AND HUGO DE BOER*

Department of Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvagen18D, SE-75236, Uppsala, Sweden; e-mail: evan_mati@hotmail.com*Corresponding author; e-mail: hugo.deboer@ebc.uu.se

Contemporary knowledge of dye plant species and natural dye use in Kurdish AutonomousRegion, Iraq In Kurdistan, natural dyes once played an important role in the life of nomads asthey wild-crafted and traded natural dyes for their survival. They learned from their family how to!nd, harvest, process, and dye with natural dyes. Abandonment of weaving and the nomadic life,and recent changes in the economy have contributed to signi!cant changes in the natural dyeingculture. Traditional knowledge of natural dyeing plants is no longer common among weavers. Thisstudy documents the surviving knowledge of dye plant species and assesses the transmission ofknowledge between elderly weavers and a younger generation of weavers’ apprentices.Information on dyeing and dyeing plants was elicited through a species recognition task usingpicture cards, a pile-sorting task, and through in-depth interviews with nomads in the mountainsof the Soran district as well as weaving teachers and students in the city of Erbil, Kurdish AutonomousRegion, Iraq. Consensus analysis of pile-sorting data supports the hypothesis that informants belongto a single culture. The results con!rm the erosion of natural dyeing culture in Kurdistan and stress theneed to stimulate knowledge transfer from the elderly, empirical generation to the younger, learninggeneration. The study also uncovered the existence of a keen interest among the student informantsin traditional herbalmedicine. If this trend is true for Kurdish urban youth in general, then it could leadto a revival and perpetuation of traditional plant knowledge.

Key Words: Natural dyes, Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq, weaving, dyeing plants, tra-ditional ecological knowledge, ethnobotany.

1 Received 27 August 2009; accepted 8 March2010; published online ___________.

Economic Botany, XX(X), 2010, pp. 1–13.© 2010, by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.

BackgroundNATURAL DYES

Mankind has known about natural dyes formillennia. Pigment fragments found in Egyptiantombs show the use of natural plant dyes to be morethan 5,000 years old, and descriptions of dyeextraction procedures are found in hieroglyphs(Zollinger 2004). Throughout time, weavingcultures around the world have used plant andmineral dyes to dye yarn (Opie 1992), and naturalproducts were, for a long time, the only source ofcoloring. Rug weaving has mainly been the workof women in nomadic tribes (Gunter 2004;Middleton 1996). It became an integral part of awoman’s life and re!ected her social status (Hulland Luczyc-Wyhowska 1993). Dyeing recipeswere kept as guarded secrets (Allane 1995; Hulland Luczyc-Wyhowska 1993), passed down matri-lineally through the generations, together with theweaving techniques. The discovery of syntheticdyes in 1856 by William Henry Perkin gave wayto a range of new synthetics that spread through-out the world. The ease of use, availability, andbright colors of synthetic dyes (Nassiri 1966) ledalmost total replacement of natural dyes in theMiddle East by the beginning of the twentiethcentury (O’Bannon 1995).

NOMADIC TRIBES AND KURDISTAN

The inaccessible mountain habitat of Kurdistanallowed limited penetration of outside in!uences(Hull and Luczyc-Wyhowska 1993), making itpossible for nomads to retain the use of naturaldyes (Yassavoli 2000) longer than in most MiddleEastern countries. It was not until the 1950s thatsynthetic dyes had almost completely replacednatural dyes in Kurdistan (Opie 1992). Eagleton(1988:7) writes that “the Kurdish nomads wereprobably one of the last groups to abandon theuse of natural dyes, and among the peoplesproducing tribal and village rugs in traditionalways, the Kurds are the best.” Nomadic culturehas been a Kurdish way of life for centuries(McDowall 2007), and nomadic tribes formed agreat part of the contemporary Kurdish popula-tion (Izady 1992). The majority of Kurds todaylive scattered throughout parts of Iraq, Turkey,Iran, and Syria, and maintain a rich weavingtradition in all these countries (O’Bannon 1995).Tragic events in the last decades, like the BarzaniRevolts (1960–1975), the Iran-Iraq war (1980–

1988), and the Al-Anfal campaign (1986–1989),the infamous Kurdish genocide, led to thedestruction of around 4,000 villages, the deathsof 180,000 people, and the displacement of overa million people in Kurdistan (Gunter 2004;McDowall 2007; Yildiz 2007). In addition, theforced relocation of nomadic and settled tribesand the closing of borders, which impededtranshumance, have both contributed to thedevastation of weaving culture (McDowall 2007).The fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003

resulted in economic and social change for theIraqi Kurds. Connections and communicationwith outside countries grew, and internationaltrade with the Kurds could start for the "rst time.Kurdistan today is a rapidly-changing societymoving toward modern marketing and technology(KRG 2009), and this threatens the persistence oftraditional Kurdish weaving. Over time the size ofthe remaining nomadic population in Kurdistanhas declined (Stanzer 1988). Its folk have gonefrom being fully nomadic to becoming semi-nomads that only move between summer andwinter pastures each year. The nomadic popula-tion in Iraqi Kurdistan is presently facingextinction, with only 750 nomadic and semi-nomadic families left (L. Sipan, pers. comm.).

THE KURDISH TEXTILE MUSEUM

An attempt to preserve the cultural weavingheritage of the Kurdish nomads was made withthe establishment of a Kurdish Textile Museum(http://www.kurdishtextilemuseum.com) in theancient citadel of Erbil. Kurdish anthropologistLolan Sipan founded the museum in 2004 andstarted the “Women’s Income Generation Train-ing Project.” Its objective is to create job oppor-tunities for women, while reviving the traditionalKurdish weaving culture by giving old tribal masterweavers the chance to teach their skills to youngerwomen and, at the same time, create textiles forcommercialization.

OBJECTIVES

This study documents the remaining tradi-tional knowledge of natural dyeing and dyeingplants of the nomadic tribes of Iraqi Kurdistan. Itassesses the transmission of traditional dyeingknowledge from the older generation of masterweavers at the Kurdish Textile Museum to theyounger generation of weavers’ apprentices. It

ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL

combines a quantitative approach using picturecards for species recognition and pile-sorting taskswith qualitative data on natural dyeing plantspecies, their identi"cation, collection, harvesting,extraction, and use. This study presents the "rstdata on Kurdish contemporary natural dyeknowledge and use and some of the "rst data onplant use by the Kurdish minority in Iraq.

Materials and MethodsSTUDY SITES

Field work was carried out in Erbil province,Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq, in October–December 2008. Work was done at the KurdishTextile Museum, in the citadel in the center ofErbil, and in the Balakî tribe villages of Balekîyan,Macîdawe, and Bêlêngir in the Soran districtsituated to the northeast of Erbil (Fig. 1).

INTERVIEWS

Informant interviews were carried out individ-ually in a separate room within the museum and

in the home of each Balakî tribe member. Theinterviews were conducted by the "rst authorwith his mother, Ann Mati, as an assistant, andcarried out in Sorani Kurdish. Sorani Kurdish canbe written in both Arabic script and alphabet, butin order to facilitate proper pronunciation ofphonemes it uses additional accent marks on theletters. Interviews consisted of a short conversa-tional prelude in which the background of theresearch was explained, and prior informedconsent was obtained before proceeding with datacollection. Personal data on the informant wasgathered at the end of each session. All interviewswere recorded using a digital video camera. Therecordings are retained for reference at the Depart-ment of Systematic Biology, Uppsala University.

To determine the cultural domain (Borgatti1994) of dyeing plants and what species toinclude in this study, a key informant wasidenti"ed using snowballing among the weavingteachers at the museum, with whom in-depthinterviews were conducted. Based on these data,13 picture cards were created: 12 of dyeing plants

Fig. 1. Map of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in Iraq. Letters refer to study sites: A. Balekîyan; B. Macîdawe; C.Bêlêngir. Numbers refer to collection locations of dyeing plants from Table 2: 1. Balekîyan; 2. Bêlêngir; 3. HornîBalekîyan; 4. Sure Zewî; 5. Gelî Alî Beg; 6. Barzan; 7. Bradost; 8. Diyane; 9. Hacî Omran; 10. Hendrên; 11.Riwandiz; 12. Sîdekan; 13. Hesen Beg; 14. Zrauk; 15. Herîr; 16. Batas; 17. Graw; 18. Xoşnaw; 19. Şeqlawe; 20.Sefîn; 21. Korê; 22. Mesîf (Selahedîn); 23. Bestore; 24. Kelek; 25. Şino; 26. Xane; 27. Nexede; 28. Mehabad;29. Macîdawe.

MATI & DE BOER: NATURAL DYE USE IN KURDISTAN2010]

and one of potassium-alum, a common mordant.Each picture card consisted of photographs ofdifferent parts of the plants, displaying the charac-teristics needed to identify the species. In addition,samples of each plant were purchased in the nearbyQaysari market in Erbil and were displayed togetherwith each picture card. The samples were laterstored at the Uppsala University Herbarium (UPS)as botanical references for identi"cation.A species recognition task with the picture

cards was carried out with each informant. Theywere asked to identify the plants they knew, andthen to sort the identi"ed plants using anunconstrained pile sort (Martin 2004). In addi-tion to the arrangement of the piles, the criteriafor sorting were also noted.These tasks were followed by open-ended,

semistructured interviews regarding each plant(Martin 2004). These interviews consisted ofquestions on local names, uses, plant parts used,use instructions, where they grow, how to collectthem, best collection time, from whom theinformant learned about the plant, as well as thecommercial value of the species.

DATA ANALYSIS

Anthropac 4.98 (Borgatti 1996) was used foranalysis of the pile-sorting data. Consensus analysis(Romney et al. 1986) was used to test theunderlying “one-culture hypothesis.” Data wereplotted using nonmetric multidimensional scaling,in which Euclidian distances between all the pointsin the similarity matrix are computed and the dataare represented in a 2-dimensional space in anoptimal way (Kruskal and Wish 1976; Puri andVogl 2005). Data were further analyzed usingProperty Fitting (PROFIT) analysis and quadraticassignment procedure (QAP) regression (Hubert andSchultz 1976; Puri and Vogl 2005). Dependentvariables were the agreement matrices from theconsensus analysis for the pile sorting of the dyeingplants. The attribute matrix consisted of social dataon the following: number of species recognized;knowledge (from the consensus analysis); age;gender; knowledge source (learned from mother,grandmother, aunt, parents, female relatives, femalerelatives-in-law, here and there, teacher(s), or feltmakers); educational background (number of yearsof education); informant type (villager, teacher, orstudent); occupation (housewife, teacher, shepherd,student, or felt-maker); language ability (Kurdish,Kurdish and Arabic, or Kurdish and Arabic and

Turkmen); marital status (patrilocal residence,matrilocal residence, neolocal residence, or unmar-ried); family (nuclear or extended); residence size(number of people in residence); tribe (Balakî,Kheilani, Gerdi, Sian, Khoshnaw, Balak, Shekhan);and nomadic status (active nomad, abandonednomadic lifestyle, or not nomad). Quantitativeattribute variables were normalized and regressedusing PROFIT analysis. Categorical attribute vari-ables were independently converted to matrices byscoring for matches in a single variable similaritymatrix (Puri and Vogl 2005) and regressed usingQAP regression.

ResultsSPECIES RECOGNITION

Recognition of dyeing plant species using thepicture cards was perceived as dif"cult by someinformants, and augmentation with material samplesfacilitated recognition considerably (Table 1). Speciesrecognition focused on whether the informantidenti"ed the plant species depicted on the cardand not whether it was recognized as a dyeing plantspecies. In some cases, the students did not identifythe plants in the picture cards as natural dyes.Weaving teachers, on the other hand, identi"ed allspecies recognized by the students, as well as someother, additional natural dyes. The Balakî tribeinformants in the Soran district scored best in thistask and recognized on average 12 species out of 13,whereas the students in Erbil recognized only 8.2on average, and often did not know the dyeingproperties of the species, but recognized other uses,such as in traditional medicine. The averagerecognition by all informants was 10.9 out of 13,which gives an indication of their everyday level ofspecies familiarity.Quercus aegilops L., Rhus coriaria L., Punica

granatum L., and Juglans regia L. were recognizedby all informants, followed by Beta vulgaris L.,Potassium-alum, Indigofera tinctoria L., Quercusinfectoria Oliv., Rumex spp. and Curcuma longa L.that were recognized by 19, 18, 17, 17, 14, and12 informants, respectively. Poorly-recognizedspecies were some of the most common dye plantspecies, including Reseda lutea L. (9) and Rubiatinctorum L. (11).Species recognition differed between the three

informant groups. The Balakî tribal peoplerecognized almost all picture cards, althoughsome did not recognize R. lutea, R. tinctorum,C. longa, and Rumex spp. The teachers also

ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL

recognized the majority of the species, but hadtrouble identifying R. lutea (3 out of 7), C. longa(3 out of 7), and R. tinctorum (5 out of 7). Thestudents had the least thorough knowledge andcould not identify R. lutea and R. tinctorum, andinfrequently recognized Rumex spp. (1 out of 5),I. tinctoria (2 out of 5), and Q. infectoria (2 out of5). The poor recognition of the important dyespecies, R. lutea and R. tinctorum, might be due tothe limited alternative uses that these species have(Table 2). Many people may never have seen theentire plant, or even the parts in trade. Inaddition, R. tinctorum is mainly imported as driedor powdered roots from Iran, and R. lutea is onlywild-crafted but not cultivated. C. longa, on theother hand, is used for dyeing food instead of cloth,and is imported from outside the region. Some ofthe teachers and Balakî people did not recognizethe species, which could be explained by its limitedavailability outside the major urban centers and apossible confusion based on the aberrant dyeing usewithin the species recognition task.

PILE SORTING

Visual evaluation of the pile-sorting data allowsfor rapid recognition of species clusters throughrepeated co-occurrence. Informants identi"edfour sorting categories: dye, food, medicine, andtexture/appearance. The Balakî and the teacherspile-sorted the species either by their dyeing orfood properties, 7 and 8, respectively. One of theteachers even sorted the species for their use asadjacent colors in rug weaving. Pile sortingamong teachers and Balakî was similar regardlessof the pile-sorting criteria, and they commonlygrouped the following together: Q. aegilops andQ. infectoria (11 times out of 15 informants), B.vulgaris and Rumex spp. (7), P. granatum and V.vinifera (7), P. granatum and J. regia (7), R.tinctorum and I. tinctoria (6), and R. lutea andAlum (5). The students did not sort the piles fortheir dyeing properties, but rather for food,medicinal, or texture/appearance, and their pileswere notably different from the others. Three ofthe students piled Q. aegilops and J. regiatogether, and another two put Q. infectoria andalum in the same piles. The former are both treespecies in which part of the fruit is used. Theseinclude the cupules of Q. aegilops and the shells ofJ. regia. In the latter group, Q. infectoria galls areput with alum because they are used togethermedicinally to treat oral ulcers (see Table 2).

TABLE1.

DYE

ING

PLANTSP

ECIESREC

OGNIZED

BYIN

FORMANTS.

Teacher

Teacher

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Balaki

Teacher

Stud

ent

Stud

ent

Stud

ent

Stud

ent

Stud

ent

Teacher

Teacher

Teacher

Teacher

Sums

12

34

56

78

910

1112

1314

1516

1718

1920

Quercus

aegilops

L.(Fagaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

20Pu

nica

granatum

L.(Pun

icaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

20Rh

uscoria

riaL.

(Anacardiaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

20Vitisv

inifera

L.(Vitaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

20Juglansregia

L.(Jugland

aceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

11

20Ru

biatin

ctorum

L.(Rub

iaceae)

11

11

11

11

00

10

00

00

01

01

11Indigoferatin

ctoria

L.(Fabaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

01

00

11

11

17Beta

vulga

risL.

(Chenopodiaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

11

01

11

11

11

19Quercus

infectoria

Olivier(Fagaceae)

11

11

11

11

11

10

00

11

11

11

17Resed

aluteaL.

(Resedaceae)

00

01

11

01

11

10

00

00

01

01

9CurcumalongaL.

(Zingiberaceae)

01

11

00

11

10

11

11

01

00

10

12Ru

mex

sp.(Po

lygonaceae)

11

01

11

11

11

10

00

01

01

11

14Po

tassium-Alum

11

11

11

11

11

10

10

11

11

11

18Sums

1112

1113

1212

1213

1211

138

78

810

912

1112

MATI & DE BOER: NATURAL DYE USE IN KURDISTAN2010]

TABLE2.

COMPILE

DDATAON

PLANTSFR

OM

IN-D

EPTH

INTER

VIEWSWITH

ALL

INFO

RMANTSa.

Kurdish

andscienti"cname

Dye

useb

How

tocollect

Where

itgrow

scOther

uses

BeruQuercus

aegilops

L.(Fagaceae)

Brown1

,4,17,20.N

DP1

,4,17,20

Dry

acorn

cupu

les,grind,

boil,

letcool,add

yarn,

leaveovernight,dryyarn,d

yewith

synthetic

dye1

,4,17,20.C

ollected

inautumn2

,4,6,10,11

before

rainfall1

,2.

Whenfallen,

pick

from

ground

1,2,3,4,5,6,10,11 .Clim

band

pick

orthrowrocksat

tree

3 .Use

long

stickto

grab

branch,and

pick

acorns

4,18.

Wild

inhills

andmountains

1,2,3,4,5,6,10,17,20,

Sefîn

2 ,Sîdekan2,Ş

eqlawe2,Bradost10 ,

Barzan

10,Z

rauk

10,B

êlêngir1

0 ,Hendrên

10

andHesenBeg10 .

Medicine3

,15 .Eatacorns

totreatstom

achache

3 ,diarrhea

15.F

oodA

LL.C

ollected

afterrainfall;

otherwise

bitter1,2 .Roast,p

eel,andeat

seed

1,2,3,4,6,11.G

rind,

anduseas

!ourfor

bread6

.Rem

ovetesta,boil,

then

eat3.

Leather1,2,3,4,5,6,10,11,18,19,20 .Skin

goat

orcow,soakhide

inwater

overnight,scrape

insid

ewith

asharpknife

until

clean,

then

applydecoctionof

driedandground

acorn

cupu

lesto

skin,twist

skin,and

leave1day2

0

(alt.

"llskin

with

thewater,leave

8–9days

11),

addskin,coolo

vernight,g

oatskinbecomes

hard

andthick(fo

rmakingshoes10 )

("llwith

sand

sothat

ittakesshape4),dryin

shadow

,tie

legandarm

holeswith

rope,w

ashrepeatedly

with

water;storage

bagforrice,cheese,w

heat,

orotheritems;Hem

bane,also

tochurnbu

tter;

Meşke,b

agalso

used

tostorewater;

Kun

de1,2,3,4,5,6,10,11,18,19,20.F

uel2,8,10 .Wood

andacorns

used

ascharcoal2,10;R

eju.E

mergency

fuel8 .Fo

dder

2,3,4,5,6,8,9 .Con

struction1

0 .Wood

andbranches10.

Henar

Punica

granatum

L.(Pun

icaceae)

Yello

w1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,18,20.

NDP1

,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,18,20 .Peelis

removed

byhand

,and

used

todye1

,3,5,6,8,9,11,18,20 .Com

bine

with

J.regia1

8or

synthetic

dyes2 .

Harvestfruitby

pickingor

usinga

knife

1,2,3,4 .

Cultivated

3,4,6,11,17,18.W

ild1,2,5in

mountains

2 .Medicine1

,3,4,10,11,12,13,15,16.E

atexocarpto

treat

stom

achache

1,3,11,12,13,stitching4.A

pply

exocarpto

oralulcers15,16 .SeeQ.infectoria

16.

Rub

onhand

s;dryandcrackedskin

15.F

oodA

LL.

Collected

afterrainfall;

otherwise

notaste2.E

atfreshor

makeRu

bahenaror

Birm

an(syrup

)or

Sirka(vinegar)1,2,3,4,5,6,8,11.L

eather

3,4,10,19 .Dry

exocarp,

boilwith

Q.a

egilops

(see

Q.a

egilops);

givesstrength

toleather3,4,10,19,for

making

shoes10 .HairDye

4,11,13,14.D

ryexocarp,

grind,

mix

into

henn

a,dyehair4

,11,13,14 .

Sumaq

Rhus

coria

riaL.

(Anacardiaceae)

Red

1,2,3,4,5,6,8,11,18,19,20 .NDP3

,4,8,18,20.

Dry,rem

oveseeds,andgrindtestain

mortar;Destar

1,2 .Pu

tseedsin

water,

runthroughwith

hand

;seeds

separate

from

testa8.B

oilw

ithalum

(sizeof

awalnu

t)then

useR.

tinctoria1,2,11,

orsynthetics6,8,o

rR.

luteola5.

Cut

infructescence

1,3,4,6,8,19.H

old

steam

belowinfructescence,p

ull

allseeds

upwards

3,4,8,18,20 .

Cultivated

1,8,11,17,20.W

ild5,10,18in

mountains

2,3,4,19,p

lains6,X

oşnaw19,

andRiwandiz1

9 .

Medicine9

,10,12,13,14,15,16,18 .Apply

testaon

skinbu

rns9.P

utin

mouth

ofanim

al;o

ralu

lcers10 ,

humans15 .Boil,drink;

stom

achache

12,18and

diarrhea

13,14 ,with

garlic1

5,16.L

owerstheblood

pressure15.F

oodA

LL.C

ollected

before

rainfall;

otherwise

notaste2

,4.S

eparatetestafrom

seed

andeat1,2,4,5,20 .Fo

dder

10.L

eather

19.D

ry,b

oil

with

Q.a

egilops

(see

Q.a

egilops);givesstrength

toleather19 .Hairdye4.

Trê

Vitisv

inifera

L.(Vitaceae)

Green

1 .NDP1.C

ollect

anddryleaves1 .

Cut

infructescence

andpick

leaves

byhand

1,4 .

Cultivated

1,4,8,11,17 .

Medicine6

,12,13,15,16,19 .Eatgrapes

tolower

blood

pressure6 .Anemia12,13,15,16,19.F

oodA

LL.L

eaves

used

inKurdish

dish;D

olma1

,2,3,4,5,14 .Fruit

ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL

TABLE2.

(CONTIN

UED).

Kurdish

andscienti"cname

Dye

useb

How

tocollect

Where

itgrow

scOther

uses

eatenrawor

sundried;

Mewij(raisin

s),and

Doşaw

(Syrup

)1,2,3,4,6,10,11,12,18,19;b

oilfruit,

pour

decoctionin

cloth,

then

inbasket,and

presssapby

stam

ping;sub

sequently

boildown

until

itthickens

tosyrup1.

Cuz

Juglansregia

L.(Jugland

aceae)

Black

1,2,3,4,5,6,9,11,17,18,20.

NDP1

,3,4,5,6,9,11,18,20 .Rem

ovepeel

(exocarp)andusefresh(dry

4,9,11).

Collected

unrip

e,before

peelhas

cracked1.M

ordant

dyeanddirect

color1,2,3,4,5,6,9,11,17,18,20.W

ithP.

granatum

18.W

ithsynthetics2.

Leave1–2h6

orafewdays

4 .

Clim

btree,h

itfruitwith

long

stick,

collect

from

ground

2,4,5,9,11.Clim

b,uselong

stickwith

hook

tograb

branch

andshake.18

Cultivated

3,4,5,6,9,11,18,20,inBestore1 ,

MesîfS

elahedîn1.W

ild5,11,17in

mountains

alongstream

s2,5,6,17,18,

Xoşnaw

andBa

lekîyan

1 ,andGelî

AlîBeg6.

Medicine3

,4,5,6,9,10,13,14,15,16,19.E

atnu

t;lowers

bloodfatandbloodpressure4,5,14,stomach

ache

3 ,anem

ia,and

also

seeQ.infectoria

16,

forstrength

13,15,16,for

strong

bones19 .

Apply

freshpeelon

skinbu

rn6or

rash

and

eczema1

0 .Dry

peel,g

rind,

mix

with

little

water,apply

onhead;h

eadache9.F

oodA

LL.

Crack

shell,dry,

break,

eat1,2,3,4,5,6.H

air

dye2

,3,4,6,11,12,14 .Dry,b

oil,mix

little

ofthe

water

into

henn

a2,3,4,w

ithP.

granatum

4 .Dry,g

rind,

mix

into

henn

a6,11,12,14 .

Carpentry

1,2 .Use

woodto

makeDarîQ

end:

tobreakbigsugarblocks

on,p

lace

blockin

center,

crushwith

axe,sugarfalls

downinto

cavity1,2 .

Cosmetic10.R

ubfreshpeelon

lipsas

lipstick1

0 .Run

asRu

biatin

ctorum

L.(Rub

iaceae)

Red

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,18,20.N

DP3

,5,18 .Grin

droot

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,18,20

with

Conî

(mortar),u

seHêlîng

("ne

sieve)to

strain

powder2.L

eave

afewdays

4 .Boil

with

alum

5,18,20andR.

coria

ria11

and

synthetics2.S

oakyarn

inhotwater,take

out,applymadderpowderon

yarn,p

utyarn

inhotwater,leave

overnight,dry

yarn

8 ,"rsttreatwith

R.coria

riaand

alum

6 ,"rsttreatwith

P.granatum

and

alum

1 .Collected

insprin

g5,18 ,

autumn4

,8(beforerain

3 ).

Pulloutplantfrom

ground

,cut

off

roots4,5.U

seshovel8 .

Bought2,11,20

from

Iran

1,3,6in

Şino,

Nexede,Mehabad

1 ,or

from

dealers

returningfrom

Iran

5,8 .Cultivated

1,18

inXoşnaw

1 ,Bestore,M

esîfS

elahedîn,

Graw1,18.W

ild3,4,5,8,18,in

Gelî

Alî

BegandHornî

Balek

îyan

3 ,Sure

Zewî5,K

orê18 ,

mountains

5,8,18,m

eadows4,and

vineyards18 .

Medicine1

,6,18 .Grin

d,mix

with

eggyolk,apply

onwound

,sore,bone

fracture,swollenarea,leave

afewdays

1,18.G

rind,

addlittle

water,apply

onforehead;h

eadacheor

eyepain

6 .

Xim

Indigoferatin

ctoria

L.(Fabaceae)

Blue/Black

1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,12,17

,18,19,20 .Boil,

addyarn

orclothes,leave15–60min,

depend

ingon

shade,dry,

wash;

Dyeingcolorful

clothesblack,

e.g.,d

eath

infamily

9,12,18 .

With

P.granatum

andsalt8,w

ithalum

17.

Yarn

sent

toXimxanşî(indigo

dyeworkshops)

intowns

fordyeing

1,4,5,6,11,19,20.B

ought

dye1

,8,9in

Herîr1 ,Ba

tas1,D

iyane8,

andXa

ne3 .

Ximşî(black

dyers)wereJewish

,and

had4–6shopsin

Erbil(1960)1,17,18.A

fterleaving,

none

leftto

dye

with

Indigo

19,20 ,andinsteadpeopledyed

with

syntheticsor

P.granatum

orJ.regia1

8 .

Silqesor

Beta

vulgaris

L.(Chenopodiaceae)

Red

11.N

DP1

1 .Sliceroot,u

sefreshfor

dyeing

11.

Pullup

from

ground

1,2,11

Cultivated

1,3,4,11.

Medicine1

6 .Boil,drink;

kidn

eypain

andgives

energy

16.F

oodA

LL.T

urşî(pickles);

1,4,6,11,14,18

slice,b

oil,pu

tin

jar,addvineger,salt,vegetables,

store1week.1Dolme14 ,Kifte1,4,6,17 .

MazîQ

uercus

infectoria

Olivier(Fagaceae)

Beige

4,10,18,20.N

DP2

0 .Gallsused

todye

textilesused

fortraditionalkurdish

men

clothing

4,10,18 .Collected

inautumn6

,11,18

before

rainfall3

,4,8.

Clim

bandpick

galls

from

tree

1,3,4,8,11,18 .

Use

long

stickto

fetchbranch

4or

hittree

5 .

Wild

inhills

and

Mmun

tains1,2,3,9,10,11,17,18,

sopes6,B

radost3

,8,and

HesenBeg1

1 .

Medicine1

,2,3,4,6,9,10,11,15,16,17,18,19 .Collected

before

midsummer,w

hengalls

aredark;

better

medicine,3

,4,6,8.D

ry,g

rind,

sieve

with

"ne

cloth,

applyon

wound

,cover1,2,9,11

,with

eggyolk,o

nwound

s,swellin

gs,b

roken

body

part,leave

2weeks

18,p

soriasis

and

skinbu

rn6,10,17 ,oralulcers3 ;with

alum

15,19 ,

MATI & DE BOER: NATURAL DYE USE IN KURDISTAN2010]

TABLE2.

(CONTIN

UED).

Kurdish

andscienti"cname

Dye

useb

How

tocollect

Where

itgrow

scOther

uses

with

P.granatum

andJ.regia1

6 .Eat;

stom

achpain

1 .Leather1,20 .Use

with

Q.a

egilops20,b

othMazîsk

(big

redgall,

with

pointy

outgrowths)andGurîng

(big

yellow-red

gall,

nopointy

outgrowths),

canbe

used

with

Q.a

egilops1 .Fo

dder

2,3,4,11.

Fuel2,10.C

onstruction1

0 .Woodandbranches10.

Send

erResed

alutea

L.(Resedaceae)

Yello

w1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,18,20 .

NDP4

,5,6,8,9,10,11,18,20.L

eaves

used

4,5,6,8,9 ,sometim

espicked

dry4

,6,8.

Allaerialp

artsused

10,11,18.D

irect

dye5.

Leavefewdays

4 .Firsttreatwith

alum

andR.

coria

ria6.R

.luteola

isbetter

but

useP.

granatum

ifnotavilable1.C

ollected

between8

,10,11

sprin

g4,5andsummer6,9 .

Pullplantfrom

ground

1,4,6,18.

Pick

leaves8 .

Wild

inmountains

5,6,8,9,18,m

eadows4,11 ,

near

water9 .Borderof

Turkey

andIran,H

acîO

mran2

0 ,Hornî

Balek

îyan

5 .

Zerde

Çew

e3,4,8,9,14,16,19 ,

Beharat12,13,14,D

erman

Biry

anî2,11,14

Curcuma

longaL.

(Zingiberaceae)

Yello

w2,3,4,11.F

ooddye2

,3,4,11 .Po

wdered

root

addedto

water

whenmakingrice;

yellowcoloredrice2,u

sedin

vario

usdishes4 .

Bought2,3,4,11 .

Bought,Im

ported

2,3,4,11.

TirşokeRu

mex

sp.

(Polygonaceae)

Ligh

tred4

,10,11.N

DP4

,10,11.L

eave

leaves

afewdays

4 .Boilw

ithalum

11.C

ollected

anytim

e4,b

efore!ow

ering1

1 .

Pick

leaves1/Pu

llfrom

ground

2,4,18.

Wild

alongstream

s2,10,11,m

ountains

1,4 ,

slopesnear

"elds

18,b

ushy

and

shadyareas4,m

eadowsin

sand

ysoil1

8 ,Gelî

AlîB

egwaterfall,

Kelek1,and

Hendrên

4 .

Medicine2

,4,9,10,18.A

pply

leaves

onsore,cover,leave

1day;

cleans

andremoves

pus2,9,10,18.B

oil!

owers,

washgenitalw

ithwater;v

aginalinfection4.

Food

1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,18,19,20.E

atfresh1

,2,10,18.

Boil8.U

sedwith

V.vinifera

inDolme1,2,8,11,20.

ŞebPo

tassium-Alum

Mordant

1,2,3,4,5,8,10,11,18,19,20.

NDP3

,4,5,8,11,18,19,20.M

ordant

yarn

priorto

dyeing,o

raddmordant

todye-yarn

mixture.

Boughtin

shops1,2,3,4,19,20.

Medicine3

,10,13,15,16,17,19.G

rind,

mix

with

milk,

applyexternally

torelieve

body

pain,stiffness,

tiredness3 .Grin

dwith

Q.infectoria

galls,add

salt,

mixintooil,applyon

wound

10.See

Q.infectoria

15,16,19.

Applyto

wounds(oraftershaving)

ashemostatic

and

astringent13 ,skinburns17 .Food

1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,18 .For

cheesemaking:Grind,

addto

contain

er,add

water,

clean

byscraping

theinsideof

goat,cow

orsheep

abom

asum

,and

cutitinto

small

pieces,d

ry;Şîlk,add

tocontain

er,cover,leave

for2–3days

until

layerform

son

bottom;H

ewên

(naturalyeast),

addlayerto

boiled

milk,stir;cheese1,3,4,5,6,8,9,18 .Ad

dyogurtandsaltto

Şîlk,leave

overnight,dryin

sun,

canbe

used

when

needed,add

little

hotwater,grin

dalu

mandaddto

mixture,add

water;H

ewên,add

tohotmilk;cheese2.

Water

purifi

catio

n3,5,10 .Ad

dalu

mto

water,stir,w

ait;

"lth

willsinkto

bottom

ofcontain

er3,5,10.C

osmetic13.

Applyunderarm,asdeodorant13 .

aQuotenu

mbersrefertoinform

ants(Table1).Statementsmentio

nedby

all2

0inform

antsaremarkedALL

.bNDP(N

ormaldyeing

procedure):d

ryplantm

aterial,boil,letitcool,addyarn,leave

overnight,dryyarn

insun.

cFo

llowed

byplantlocatio

nsin

Kurdish

(forlocatio

non

map,see

Fig.

1).

ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL

Consensus analysis in Anthropac applied to thepile-sorting data of the dyeing species recognizedin the species recognition task argues strongly infavor of the hypothesis that our informantsbelong to one culture, with an eigenvalue ratioof 11.977 (pseudo-reliability 0.970). However,correlating the variation by either Property Fittingor QAP regression with informant attributes(gender, age, status, knowledge source, educa-tional background, informant type, occupation,language ability, marital status, family, residencesize, tribe, nomadic lifestyle, or the reported pile-sorting criteria) was dif"cult, with either littlevariation explained (low R-squared) or littleprobability (low p-value). “Learned from,” occu-pation, and reported pile-sorting criterion were allsigni"cant, but explained little of the variation.Focusing speci"cally on the Erbil master weaversand their pupils, we "nd strong support for asingle culture (pseudo-p 0.940, eigenvalue ratio8.974). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling intwo dimensions has a moderate Kruskal stress of0.175. Property Fitting of normalized quantita-tive attributes shows that both position (teacheror student) (R2 0.653, p 0.010) and age (R2

0.611, p 0.018) explain variation in the pilesorting (Fig. 2). The relatively strong support forthe one-culture hypothesis is probably in!uencedby the limited number of species in the pile sort,whereas the signi"cance of the informant’s ageand position is probably a combination of

homogeneity in the weaving teachers’ knowledgeopposed to limited species knowledge among thestudents and alternative sorting criteria such asherbal medicine or appearance. At the same time,these results con"rm the importance of knowledgetransfer from the elderly, more experiencedgeneration to the younger, learning generation.

PLANT USE AND ECOLOGY

The interviews following the quantitative tasksresulted in the recording of a wealth of informa-tion on the current and traditional use of thedyeing plant species. Data collection did notfocus exclusively on dyeing use, but also on otheruses, harvesting, the source of the material, andexact use instructions for each purpose (Table 2).The place names mentioned as sources of thedyeing plant species were identi"ed using maps ofthe regions, and they range over the Kurdishregion in Iraq and Iran (Fig. 1). The quotationsin the ethnobotanical data enable the identi"ca-tion of the separate informants, and allow for theassessment of variation in knowledge between thethree main groups of informants: weaving stu-dents, weaving teachers, and Balakî tribal weavers.

Knowledge of natural dyeing plant speciesagrees with other studies of natural dye knowl-edge in the region. Doğan et al. (2004), in abroad study of contemporary dye plant knowl-edge in Turkey, describe similar uses of all species

Fig. 2. Pile sorting of dyeing plant species by weaving teachers and apprentices in Erbil plotted using nonmetricmultidimensional scaling (MDS). Students are marked by squares and teachers by triangles. The plot is the optimalrepresentation of the Euclidean distances between the informants’ knowledge based on the similarity matrix, and theaxes are the two dimensions in which the data can be represented with the least Kruskal stress (0.175). The clusters ofstudents and teachers are encircled. The vectors are based on property "tting of attributes using multiple regressions(PROFIT). Arrows point in the direction of increasing attribute values.

MATI & DE BOER: NATURAL DYE USE IN KURDISTAN2010]

except I. tinctoria, B. vulgaris, and Q. infectoria.Özgökçe and Yilmaz (2003) describe similardyeing uses from Eastern Anatolia (Turkey) forthe following species: V. vinifera, J. regia, R.tinctorum, R. lutea, and Rumex spp. Hooper andField (1937) describe the use of P. granatum, R.coriaria, R. tinctorum, Q. infectoria, I. tinctoria,and C. longa as dye plant species traded in themedinas of Isfahan (Iran), Tehran (Iran), andBaghdad (Iraq), and in addition mention the useof Q. infectoria and R. coriaria as importantsources of tannin for dyeing.The majority of the ethnobotanical data is

given by the Balakî informants, as well as almostall of the ecological data. The remainder of thedata is mainly from the weaving teachers, whooften have had "rst-hand experience with thesespecies when living as nomads in the mountainsin their youth. Weaving students often have limitedor only indirect knowledge of plant ecology, butfrequently knew of the uses of certain species "rst-hand, especially traditional medical uses of thesespecies. The qualitative interviews also revealed thatmany of the informants recognized species based onuses other than solely dyeing. The most strikingexample is the common grape (V. vinifera), whichall informants recognized, but none recognizedprimarily as a dyeing species (Table 2). Someinformants (see 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Table 1) alsomentioned the use of minerals for dyeing: Qure Reş(black mud), from a river or mountainside, resultingin a black dye, and Qure Şîn (blue mud), foundunderwater close to Balakîan, resulting in a bluishdye. Both were used in the following manner: mixmud with cold water, add yarn, leave overnight,dry; or alternatively boiled with yarn; or used withyarn pretreated with R. lutea and R. tinctorum andthen left to dye for 3–4 weeks.

DiscussionBALAKÎ TRIBE

Natural dyeing plants have played an impor-tant role in the livelihoods of the nomadic tribesin Kurdistan. These plants have been essentialcomponents in nomadic weaving culture, whichhas long been a major source of income. Dyeingknowledge is transmitted matrilineally, and notsolely from mothers and grandmothers, but,signi"cantly, also from aunts, mothers-in-law,older women, and female neighbors. For centu-ries nomads have been dependent on the wild-crafting and barter-trade of these plants for their

sustenance. The invention and spread of syntheticdyes provided a preferred alternative, as they wereinexpensive, easy to process, and stable. Eventhough synthetic dyes have been available for over acentury, these have not always been obtainable bynomadic weavers during the last century, andelderly weavers learned "rst-hand to locate, harvest,process, and dye with natural dyes. Nomadic masterweavers’ dyeing knowledge, based on extensiveempirical practice, has declined as it has fallen intodisuse with the abandonment of weaving and theirnomadic livelihoods.The Balakî have extensive knowledge of dyeing

and tanning, what species can be used, wherethese species occur, how to harvest them, andhow to use them sustainably. Cross-border tradewith neighboring Kurdish people occurs: Rubiatinctorum L., a dyeing plant reported as far backas Pliny the Elder in the 1st century C.E.(Bostock and Riley 1855), is reported to bebartered with Kurdish nomads from Iran, oftenfor locally-produced white and blue cheeses, byeight of the informants, and one mentionedspeci"cally the towns of Şino, Nexede, andMehabad. Dyeing with Indigofera tinctoria L. byXimşi, Jewish black dyers, is reported to havebeen common before 1960 in Erbil and otherKurdish towns. And Reseda lutea L. is collected inthe border region of Turkey and Iran.

ERBIL WEAVERS

Analysis of the pile-sorting data for Erbilinformants showed strong support for the one-culture hypothesis. The criteria informants usewhen sorting piles are likely to be related to theirperception of the world around them; age and"rsthand experience over time gives knowledge ofadditional properties and gives rise to more waysto sort; and also their occupation clearly has anin!uence on the way people perceive similaritiesin dyeing plants. Weaving teachers are likely tosort according to matching dye colors, whereasstudents may sort by other criteria, such as shape,plant part, or medicinal properties. When analyz-ing the Erbil informants alone, we also "ndstrong support for one-culture. The culturaldifferences between teachers and students arere!ected in the MDS plot and the way the twogroups sorted the species. The variation can beexplained by both position and age using Prop-erty Fitting. The teachers are members of an oldergeneration who have lived a substantial part of

ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL

their lives as nomads roaming the harsh moun-tainous terrain of Kurdistan and were taughtdyeing as children by older generations ofnomads. The students, on the other hand, havelived all their life in the city and are far removedfrom the old nomadic ways of life, and arelearning traditional crafts as young adults.

ConclusionThe Kurdish Autonomous Region is currently

experiencing political stability and economicgrowth, but the area inhabited by the Kurds inIraq has long been poorly accessible, and fewstudies exist of the !ora and ethnobotany of theregion. Natural dyes have long played an impor-tant role in the livelihoods of the nomadic tribes,and traditional weaving has long been a majorsource of income. However, dyeing yarn withnatural dyes as well as the tradition of weaving hasbeen abandoned, and dyeing vats and looms havelong been put to other uses. Nevertheless, knowl-edge of natural dyeing species is widespread.Many of the species that have been used fordyeing in the past occur in the mountains up tothis day, either cultivated or in the wild, and havemultiple other uses. Vertical transmission ofknowledge of these species in the mountains iseffective as these species are used actively,whereas, on the contrary, dyeing use is trans-mitted largely anecdotally. Knowledge of speciesthat are mainly used for dyeing, such as R.tinctorum, R. lutea, and I. tinctoria, is disappear-ing more rapidly, and few of the informantsrecognized these species. Nevertheless the peoplein the mountains are closer to nature and every-day use of plants, and dyeing plant knowledge islikely to be sustained as a byproduct of moreactive plant use.

Migration to urban settings, such as Erbil, hasan erosive effect on dyeing knowledge and ontraditional ethnobiological knowledge in general.People who migrated to Erbil as adults generallyhave "rst-hand experience of pastoral life andbroad traditional ethnobiological knowledge. Theyounger generation of urbanites, who moved toErbil as children, or were born there, have littleknowledge of plants and their useful properties.The weaving project organized by the KurdishTextile Museum gives experienced weavers theopportunity to revive their knowledge and pass itdown to a new generation of weaving students.Not only does this project revive weaving culture,

it also empowers young women through learningan ancient and neglected trade. The weavingstudents know fewer plants and know less abouttheir use and application than their teachers.Surprisingly, however, this study uncovered theexistence of a keen interest among these studentsin traditional herbal medicine, and many of themedicinal uses recorded in this study originatefrom them. If this trend continues and is true forKurdish urban youth in general, then it couldlead to a genuine revival and perpetuation oftraditional knowledge.

This study con"rms the presence of a naturaldyeing culture, which is mainly inactive today,but whose empirical knowledge persists amonginformed people both in the countryside and inErbil. Although "rst-hand experience is largelyrestricted to the older generation, younger peoplein the cities have some anecdotal knowledge ofnatural dyeing species. The study also con"rmsthe importance of knowledge transfer between theelderly, empirical generation to the younger,learning generation. Recent changes in theeconomy of the Kurdish people have been amajor contributing factor in cultural change. Ashift of focus in the younger generations tomedicinal uses of plants was observed, as tradi-tional herbal medicine is gaining popularity inKurdish society, and young people know the dyeproperties of species secondarily after their otheruses in traditional medicine.

AcknowledgmentsAssistance from the following is sincerely

acknowledged: Ann Mati, for help throughoutthe "eldwork as an interpreter, guide, andassistant; Dylan Dersim for help with maps; SamiHessa for help with Kurdish linguistics; LolanSipan, Director of the Kurdish Textile Museum,for the opportunity to work with him inKurdistan; The Kurdish Regional Government,especially Ala Riani, responsible for communica-tion, and Awni Ali, head of media relations; thethree brothers, Farid, Maruf, and Fazil Abdullaof Avesta bookshop in Erbil; the Hussain Aghafamily, leaders of the Balakî tribe; Ashna Omarat the Ministry of Tourism in Erbil; DeryaCelil, at the College of Science and GhanimGhaeb Qader from College of Languages,Salahaddin University. EM was supported bya grant from the Swedish International Devel-opment Cooperation Agency’s (SIDA) Minor

MATI & DE BOER: NATURAL DYE USE IN KURDISTAN2010]

Field Study program. HdB is supported bySIDA-SAREC grant SWE-2005-338.

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ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL