Places, Traditions and Discoveries · Drawing 36 of 40
The arrow sash
Fléché is made with fingers, without a loom. Threads cross to form colourful arrow shapes.
Look together
Can you follow the direction of the big points?
An idea to try
Draw several large pointed shapes on a paper strip. Your child invents a repeating pattern of two or three colours.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Fléché is a complex technique of interlacing threads with fingers. Québec’s cultural heritage directory explains how colours and crossings form points, sometimes called flames or lightning bolts. Practitioners make sashes as well as contemporary objects such as bookmarks and scarves. This heritage is shared: in the fur-trade era, Indigenous people also wore and made arrow sashes, and the sash is now one of the best-known symbols of the Métis Nation.
The skill is learned through activities including watching an experienced person and practising with them. For colouring, your child can simply follow the large points and choose a colour sequence. They explore a pattern without learning the technique itself. Ask which colour repeats and in what order.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
A simplified graphic pattern evoking fléché; it copies no sash attributed to a community or craftsperson and is not a weaving pattern.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec — FléchéTechnique aux doigts, motifs en pointes, transmission et diversité des objets confectionnés aujourd’hui; ceintures portées et fabriquées aussi par des Autochtones à l’époque de la traite.
- Métis Nation of Ontario — Symbols and TraditionsLa ceinture fléchée, l’un des symboles les plus visibles de la Nation métisse et un signe de fierté et d’identité pour les Métis.
Source review: 2026-09-12. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
