The powder is regular ash from a previous fire.

Yes, for primitive situations, a cotton ball is cheating. However, I was able to make fire with a fire roll made with only fibers from a yucca plant. No cotton and no ash.
Maybe start with a cotton ball and then experiment with different natural fibers you find and collect. That's what I've been doing.

I have cordage for the bow/drill made from brain-tanned elk hide. For years I used a cord made of elk rawhide. I also have a spare cord in my bow/drill fire kit made of yucca leaf fibers. Cord is all around you in nature, but you do have to do a little work to get it.

The one time I did make a fire without having anything whatsoever on hand-- beyond a knife (but a sharp broken rock would have worked just as well) I was lucky to find a tangle of fine string hanging on some sagebrush. It was enough string that I simply twisted it into a thick enough cord to use for my bow/drill. That saved some time, for sure, but there was plenty of yucca in the area so the lucky find wasn't essential.