Threads 98: How to make a little floating duck

All you need to make this fun little toy is a piece of cattail and a pair of scissors and your fingers. Choose a fairly narrow cocktail leaf about 24 inches long. Start at the tip and fold it over at least right angles to form the bird's head. Tuck the beak under the fold. Leave about 2 inches long and then start to bandage around the neck in a tight coil like a bandage. You need nimble fingers to keep it together and also try to keep the neck at one end rather than in the middle. When your body is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, take the end and wrap it firmly around the middle to hold it all together. Now take the end and fold it under the base two or three times to stay tight. 

You can make a variation by not taking the end, and putting it up at the back to make a tail. This requires a flat blade to make a space to push it through.

If you are using a fresh piece of cattail, it will dry and loosen and probably fall apart. If you want to make a floating duck that lasts, you will need to dry the cat tail leaf first, then wrap it in a wet towel, overnight to make it pliable. This little duck will be yours for years.

I was originally shown how to make this little duck by somebody who was taught by an Indigenous friend many,  many years ago.