Black ash basket making tradition weaves generations together

Julie Severn

10/2/2003 12:00:00 AM

Seventy-two-year-old Don "Red Arrow" Stevens is one of the few black ash basket weavers passing down the knowledge and history of the traditional art.

The skill of turning black ash splints into novelty baskets has been on the back burner for nearly 30 years as the need to generate revenue through their creation has declined.

"A lot of these students' parents don't know how to make the crafts so they can't pass the knowledge on to their children," said Stevens. "If this generation does not learn the trade, it will die out."

Stevens said the art of black ash basket weaving can be traced back to the 1700s.

"Many young people don't know the proper techniques or why they are used," he added. "The tree needs to be cut at its peak time in the spring so the wood is easy to work with. When the buds come out on the trees, they are ready."

During the spring there is a good deal of water in the tree and the sap loosens the bark and year's growth, according to Stevens. He said the splints will last longer if they are prepared at this time. Some of his grandfather's baskets have lasted more than a hundred years using this method.

If the tree is cut after the leaves fall, when it's dormant, the material is more difficult to separate and may be too brittle for splints. Because of this, Stevens said, his ancestors worked ahead and cut several black ash during the spring. They buried the logs so they would have basket material to work with through the fall and winter.

"The yearly growth rings on black ash can be loosened by pounding them with a sledge hammer or the back of an axe," he said. "The log is laid on two bases. You make two notches with a knife on one end of the log, about two inches apart, then pound up and down the log with the flat side of your axe. Strips of separated rings are pulled from the log and later woven into baskets because they bend easily without splintering or cracking."

Annual rings are composed of two layers; early wood, which grows rapidly in the spring and late wood, which is formed more slowly in the summer. The early wood layers in black ash contain many large, sap-conducting tubes, which collapse and come apart when pounded. The splints are shaved, split into thinner layers and shaved again before they are ready to be used. The material can be left its natural color of white, or it can be dyed a variety of colors.

"Our family has always been basket makers," said Saginaw Chippewa Academy Middle School Coordinator Judy Pamp, who is also the daughter of Red Arrow. "The family as a whole gets involved in the trade. The very young dye the splints and mainly the women cut and weave the splints into baskets."

Pamp said the young adult men and women in her family pound the logs to loosen up the splints. It is the Elders' responsibility to shave and split the material, since it requires a lot of patience and skill. She said numerous family members sell the baskets and the money raised goes toward items needed for the family.

"The basket played a big role in history for many people," Red Arrow explained. "At one time it was mainly used for work-for fishing, hunting and gathering food. When people needed to pick up and go, that's what they used. But they were also used for ceremonial purposes."

Stevens said one popular Native basket was used to wash hominy. The corn was boiled in ashes of the ash tree, then transported into the basket, which had small square holes in the bottom. This allowed the corn to be cleansed of the ash and yet the hominy remained in the basket. The name of this basket is Many Holes."

Before World War II early settlers used baskets for shopping, so there was always a high demand.

"Basket weaving is kind of like a dying art now. By the 1950s the craft almost died out," Stevens said. "Plastic came along and you couldn't sell them anymore Now they are used as novelty items; pencil holders, crayon holders or for decoration."

Since the late 1970s, bingo and other revenue generating opportunities depleted the need to weave for a living, according to Stevens. He said several baskets were sold to Dow Chemical so they had American made products to give foreign businessmen.

"It was an honor to have our baskets all over the world, but younger businessmen came along and didn't think this was necessary," he added.

The roller coaster of demand is on the rise once again for the novelty items due to the lack of people practicing the trade, Stevens said. He accredits this to the younger generation's lack of interest since they don't depend on the craft to make a living.

"It's good to see the school's involvement in keeping the culture alive," he said of the SCA. "Craft making gives students a chance to learn more than everyday reading, writing and arithmetic. It gives our children a chance to learn about science the way our ancestors' children learned. It instills a sense of pride for our people's accomplishments, past and future. The children should be proud of their basket and share their new knowledge with their family. If you can teach three out of 30 students to get involved in the trade, that's quite an accomplishment."

Pamp agreed.

"I think it's important for our children to see the adults in their lives keeping the culture and traditions alive," she said. "Children learn what's important by what we do, not what we say. If we want our children to learn the old ways, we must incorporate them into our daily life. We must think them important enough to make them a part of our lives in the 21st century. The next generations are counting on us."