The process of making a traditional Native American ash basket starts in the woods. It begins with finding a good stand of black ash trees. Then selecting the best for harvesting. Pounding the debarked boles to release the growth rings and make splints. Then splitting the splints. Only then does weaving begin.
The tree determines the quality of the material and the beauty of the basket itself. Black ash, Fraxinus nigra, is also known in Maine as brown ash. It grows throughout the state, but it makes up a small percentage of the forest, maybe 2 percent. And of those trees, only a fifth will be high quality “basket trees.”
That’s why most Maine Indian basketmakers keep the locations of their black ash stands a secret. As you would a good fishing spot. Or a bountiful mushroom spot. Or even a place where you can drink in a beautiful view and enjoy solitude.
University of Maine graduate student Kara Lorion accompanied half a dozen basketmakers from Maine’s four Wabanaki tribes into the woods, sometimes stepping from the road directly into a grove of ash, other times following a deer trail for a half hour to reach the trees. Once there, she talked to them about how they find trees and determine which ones to use. And she videotaped the interviews. Read more…