Martina Joe wrote this paper for her SFU ethnobotany course in 2020.

tth’uxtth’ux – Stinging nettle
Urtica dioica

Introduction
There are actually hundreds of species of nettles all over the world, but in this paper I will be talking about Urtica dioica, known as stinging nettle in English and as tth’uxtth’ux in Hul’q’umi’num’. Probably its most famous use is to make fibre, but Piers Warren (2006) wrote a book on 101 uses of stinging nettles, and I will touch on some of the uses of this plant in my paper.

Ecology
Stinging nettle seems to be originally native to Europe but now it is found world-wide. It thrives in places where the annual rainfall is high (Urtica dioica, wikipedia). Pojar & MacKinnon (2016, p. 309) say that it grows from the lowlands to the sub-alpine zones. It grows everywhere—meadows, thickets, forest. And it especially likes moist soil and also soil that has been distrubed like train tracks, roadsides, and plowed land.
This interesting far-ranging plant is used for many things by people around the world.
In her research, Turner (2014, p.366) says that the aboriginal people have noticed that this plant actually grows better when the patches are kept clean by regular harvesting.

Morphology
This plant is perennial and grows 1-3 meters tall and is armed with stinging hairs, from where it gets its name. The genus Urtica is derived from a Latin word meaning “sting” (Gledhill, 2008, p. 142). According to Hukari & Peter (1995), tth’ux is a reduplication of the word tth’ux “burnt”. We were taught that reduplication of this kind in Hul’q’umi’num’ expressed the meaning of “characteristic”, so the word tth’uxtth’ux means “characterized by a burning sensation”. I will talk more about the stings you get from nettles below.
The oval or arrowhead shaped leaves grow along the stem. The leaves have saw-toothed edges. You also see drooping clusters of flowers coming off the stem (Pojar & MacKinnon 2016, p. 309) Warren (2006 p.10) the species name dioica means “two houses”. This describes the fact that the male and female flowers are produced on different plants.
The stem and leaves have little hairs on them and some of these sting. If you rub up against the spicules (hairs) of his plant, the hairs can break off. (Ecosystem Guide, 2011, p. 50)
Warren (2006, p. 9) describes the sting very colourfully:

“The millions of minute spines that cover the plant are like hollow glass tubes filled with a cocktail of formic acid, histamine, acetylcholine, seratonin and other chemicals. When they touch our skin the spines are fine enough to penetrate, but then they break off, releasing the venom beneath the surface of the skin. This causes an instant burning sensation and red rash with the characteristic little bumps.” (Warren, 2006, p. 9)

The pain and itching from this sting can last from a few minutes to a week (Ecosystem Guide, 2011, p. 50). The plant gives its name to the medical condition Urticaria, a term for general dermatitis. Treatment for nettle dermatitis is usually with hydrocortisone cream (Urtica dioica, wikipedia). Natural treatments for the sting for nettles include dock, plantain, marigold, sage, rosemary, and mint (Warren 2006, p. 10).
Using as a food and a medicine

Even though the stinging nettle is so toxic, it still is good to eat. The young sprouts are good to eat in the springtime (Ecosystem Guide, 2011, p. 50). The young leaves and stems are also eaten and according to Pojar & MacKinnon (2016, p. 309) , this could be an introduced practice from European usage. But the nettle leaves are called “Indian spinach”. Indigenous people of both the coastal and interior regions eat nettle this way. The leaves are rich in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium (Urtica dioica, wikipedia).
Nettle soup is a common use of the plant, especially in Europe. Boiling water deactivates the nettle from stinging (Nettle soup, wikipedia). I think it would be interesting to make this soup and try it, and I might try the recipe that was posted on the wikipedia page from the Northwest Indian College in the territory of the Lummi.
A Native American stinging nettle and squash soup recipe, provided by the Northwest Indian College, consists of stinging nettles, acorn squash, broth, garlic, onion and oil. The squash is cut, de-seeded and roasted. In a separate pot, the onions and garlic are sautéed until translucent, and then the squash and nettles (which can be cooked or fresh nettles) are added. Together they all cook in the pot for 20 minutes, then finished in a blender.
There are many recipes to eat nettles all different ways that you can find on the web.
In early spring, this plant could be used as a spring tonic (Pojar & MacKinnon 2016, p. 309). If you google stinging nettle spring tonic you find many recipes for this. You simply soak the nettles in cold water for a few minutes and then pour boiling water on them and let it sit for 5 minutes.
I searched google for the health benefits of stinging nettles and a really lot of claims are made about it for curing: arthritis, asthma, acne, hay fever, high blood pressure, and for treating prostate problems.

Technological uses
The stinging nettle root has been used for many years to make string, because of the strength the root holds, so is used for nets and other things. “If you remove the woody portion of tth’uxtth’ux the fibre can be twisted and wound together to form a long, thin strong line.” (Ecosystem Guide, 2011, p. 50) You have to harvest the roots at the right time of year or otherwise the bark will not peel off easily and the roots will not split properly. (Turner 2014 , p. 367). “People gathered stinging nettle stems in the fall, usually in October, after the plants had completely matured and were beginning to die.” (Turner 1998, p.203).

The fibres made from this plant were used to make nets, snares, tumplines (Pojar & MacKinnon, 2016, p. 309) and also bowstrings, duck nets, and deer nets. (Turner, 1998, p. 204)
In Nuxalk the women made the fibre and the men made the nets. They used alder bark to dye the nets brown so they would be camouflaged in the water. (Turner, 1998, p. 204).
Quw’utsun’ elder Manson Geroge, in his text xetl’ Building a Weir, says:
kwumluhw ts’u ’utl’ tth’uxtth’ux tthu ni’ thuytus ’i’ tl’uxw,
They used the root of the stinging nettle, which was really strong, to make string with.

ni’ thuytus ni’ sts-’uxthim’tun’s.
And this was also used it to make dipnets with.

He goes on to talk about how the fibre twine was used for constructing weirs.

Sometimes stinging nettle was combined with other plants to make cords and ropes.

Nanaimo elder Ellen White (Kwulasulwut) talking about q’am’ – bull kelp says:

’i’ ha’ tl’uw’ they’tum tthu situn niihw ts’u ha’kwush ’u tthu _ _ kw’us t’ut’hwa’ulh
And when you were making a basket for clam digging,

’i’ tl’uw’ yu q’uq’a’tum’ tthu q’am’.
it was the kelp that was used for that as well.

’i’ tl’uxw tse’ tthun’ situn, niilh s’ulnuts situn ni’ sq’uq’a’ tthey’ tth’uxtth’ux.
It would make your basket very strong. They would add the kelp and stinging nettles.

nem’ tthu s’ulnutss tthu tth’uxtth’ux ni’ sq’uq’a’stum’ ’i’ hay ’al’ tl’uxw tthey’.
The root of the nettles was added on there and it would make the basket strong.

Ellen White (Kwulasulwut) talking about sunni’ulhp – tall Oregon Grape says:

’uw’ niihw ’uw’ ’un’ lhqun’utun.
And you can use it to make anchors.

’uw’ niis stem kw’u ni’ ’un’ shhwha’kwush.
That’s what it is used for.

’i’ tl’uw’ ha’kw tthey’ ’uwu kws qul’qul’uls ’uwu kws tth’aqw’ums,
It doesn’t rot or deterioriate.

tl’uw’ st’e kws hiths kws sq’uq’a’s ’u tthey’ tth’uxtth’ux.
It can last a long time when it is used with nettle roots.

Beside fibre twine, stinging nettle is also used to make cloth. The Saanich used to spin nettle fibre with bird down to make blankets (Turner 1998, p. 204). Recently, there has been a movement to use natural fibres for clothing and some European companies have started to produce commercial nettle textiles. The wikipedia article on Urtica dioica mentions the research of Bergfjord (2012) that shows that nettles have been used to make clothing for almost 3,000 years when they found ancient nettle textiles dating from the Bronze Age in Denmark. It also mentions that during World War I some German Army uniforms were made from nettle because of the shortage of cotton. Although it makes a rougher fabric than cotton, stinging nettles grow easily without pesticides. So maybe this is a safer and healthier way to make cloth.
Special Uses

There were other uses that were mentioned for stinging nettle use among the peoples of the northwest coast region. The Tlingit made a red dye by mixing stinging nettle stems with urine (Turner 1998, p. 204). The Okanagan made poisoned arrows by boiling the points with nettle roots (Turner 1998, p. 204). And I was very interested to learn that the Cowichan used nettle fibre for tattooing. They rubbed charcoal and another pigment on a nettle thread and ran it beneath the skin with a fine hard wood needle. (Turner 1998, p. 204). In terms of connections to other species, the Squamish believed the first stinging nettle shoots in the spring signalled that the baby seals were being born (Turner 1998, p. 204).
One of the weird things that I read about stinging nettle is how it is used as part of the Indigenous justice systems in Ecuador. The criminal was stripped naked and flogged with stinging nettle in public (Urtica dioica, wikipedia). Well, I’m guessing that’s not one of the 101 uses that Warren mentions in his book.

Conclusion
Before I started this paper, I only had one experience with stinging nettle, when my hand brushed against it and I felt the stinging from the little hairs for a few minutes. I was amazed to learn that all over the world there are so many uses for the stinging nettle that I never knew about. Now I am able to tell people that hey it doesn’t just sting you, it is used for medicine, food, tools, clothing, and even for knowing when baby seals are being born.

References

Bergfjord, C. 2012. Nettle as a distinct Bronze-Age textile plant. Scientific Reports. 2: 664.
Ecosystem Guide: A Hul’q’umi’num language guide to plants and animals of southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Salish Sea. 2011. Hul’qumi’num’ Treaty Group. Ladysmith, BC.

Geogre, Manson (1962), xetl’ Building a Weir (Hul’q’umi’num’ text recorded by Wayne Suttles in 1962; transcribed and translated by Theresa Thorne and Donna Gerdts in 1998.)

Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
Hukari, Thomas E.; and Ruby Peter. 1995. Hul’q’umi’num’ Dictionary. Cowichan Tribes, Duncan, BC.

Nettle soup. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle_soup retrieved December 18, 2020.

Pojar, Jim, and Andy MacKinnon (compilers and editors). 2016. Plants of Coastal British Columbia: Including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. Revised. Partners Publishing and Lone Pine Publishing. BC Ministry of Forests. Vancouver, BC.

Turner, Nancy J. 1998. Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia: Including Neighbouring Groups in Washington, Alberta, and Alaska. UBC Press, Vancouver, BC.

Turner, Nancy J. 2014. Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America. Vol 2: The place and meaning of plants in Indigenous cultures and word views. McGill-Queens University Press, Montreal, Quebec.

Urtica dioica. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica retrieved Dec. 15, 2020.
Warren, Piers. 2006. 101 uses for Stinging Nettles. Wildeye, United Kingdom.

White, Ellen (Kwulasulwut), 1977. Hul’q’umi’num’ Plants and Animals. (Hul’q’umi’num’ text recorded by Thomas Hukari in 1977; transcribed and translated by Ruby Peter and Donna Gerdts in 2012.)