Mohawk Basketmakers of Akwesasne

As a basket maker here at Akwesasne, I came across this wonderful story of baskets that was written when my daughter Robin was in school. Even back then she knew her family were basket makers. At the time I would think that it may have been her Great Grandmother Agnes who was making baskets. But! Also her Great Great Grandmother Nancy was a basket maker. And today her mother Judy is making baskets. As for her part in this art, she also does her share. She does the sweetgrass braid that is used in all of the baskets. Annie King also does the braid. With all these helpers the fine art of baskets is alive and well in Akwesasne.

Submitted by Judy Cole, Written by Robin Lazore

The Mohawk community at Akwesasne is older than both Canada or the United States, but the birth of these two young nations imposed an international boundary upon the Mohawk nation, that equally divides this Reservation. This boundary situation is complicated by a provincial boundary dividing the Canadian portion into Quebec and Ontario Provinces.

The people of Akwesasne have excelled in the production of many traditional artforms: the best by far being the Black Ash Splint and Sweetgrass Basketry.

It is a tradition that allows participation of both men and women as well as training for the children of basketmaking families. The production of a basket has remained the same; natural supplies are gathered and each basket is done individually, by hand, with the aid of special hand crafted tools.

The baskets of Akwesasne are made from two natural materials that are found in close proximity to the Reservation. They are the splints obtained from the tree black ash, which is in nearby swamplands, and sweetgrass which grown on, and nearby the Reservation.

A division of labor usually occurs here. Men have traditionally been the ones to search for appropriate black ash trees to use for all baskets. Because they grow in the swamp, trees that are found in the summer are logged in the late fall when the soft earth has frozen. A tree is chosen for its diameter, which is usually 10 to 16 “ at the butt end, for straight growth and for lack of knots.

Logs are cut 10 to 14 feet in length depending on each tree’s good properties, and the log is taken home for pounding. At home, the bark is removed with a draw shave knife. Though the process of log pounding has traditionally been a man’s job, many women have pounded logs to produce precisely the splint needed for their baskets. Log pounding is strenuous and requires much experience for even pounding. Logs used to be pounded with a heavy wooden hand carved maul, but today the back of an axe has been more appropriate and convenient.

An area about 3 to 4” wide is pounded down the entire length of the log. A knife is used to mark the area cut through 6 to 8 layers. This will allow the layers to lift as it is pounded. Every inch is pounded in this chosen area and is pounded three separate times.

This pounding causes the annual rings to separate from each other and loosen from the log. A depth of six to eight rings are lifted at a time in long strips.

The eight layers are then rolled into a bundle and the process continues. As the heart wood is approached, the layers of splint are thinner and less pliable. The while splints are the most prized among all basketmakers for beauty and work-ability.

Sweetgrass grows naturally on the Akwesasne Reservation and nearby. The grass is picked in summer months from late June to August. It is picked when green. When the grass begins changing to brown the picking season is at a close. The grass blades are picked individually and special care is taken not to bend or damage the grass in this process. Ladies who pick the grass are dressed very heavily from head to toe because where sweetgrass grows, there are horseflies, black flies, and mosquitoes. Sweetgrass is excellent because of it fragrance, pliability, lack of joints, ability to be stored for a long time, and strength. It is taken home where brown dried broken blades are sorted out and the good grass us tied into tiny bunches. It is then hung to dry. In a few days bunches are tied together in a bundle and stored. Basketmakers return again and again to pick enough grass to supply them until the next picking season.

The dried sweetgrass is soaked in warm water so that it is pliable enough for weaving or braiding. These women braid grass for texture, strength, and aesthetic quality. It is the preparation and collection of materials that consumes most of the time in the basketmaking process.

Splint preparation from the bundles of rough splint is the job of each individual basketmaker. The splint is custom made by each basketmaker to suit her or his particular needs.

The rough splint is soaked until pliable; then with a knife, the texture is shaved or scraped off until smooth. Depending on individual needs it may be cut to size, trimmed, and used at this stage for large work baskets. The finer fancy baskets are usually made by the women. This requires more refinement of the splint.

Men usually made the larger work baskets which are all splint. These include forms such as pack baskets, bushel baskets, cornwasher baskets, and carved handled utility baskets.

A special knee tool call a separator has been devised that can divide an annual layer in half and then again if the splint is thick enough. This may be done by hand, “Like splitting hair”. This special knee clamp-tool provides a smooth splitting motion. The splint once split in half is satin-like in texture; as if the wood were polished. This shiny smooth surface is accentuated with white splint is used.

The 3 to 4” wide strips can be cut into widths 1/16” to 1 ¼” or any size preferred or needed with the help of a tool referred to as a splint gauge or stripper. This tool has a wooden handle with metal cutting teeth spaced evenly, in order to cut long thin uniform strips. It is common to find women making baskets for ¾” in diameter to 12” in diameter with the black ash splint in combination with the sweetgrass. It is with the help of the timesaving tool that this work is possible.

Larger baskets leave scrap pieces that allow ready material for smaller baskets. In this way very little splint is wasted.

Another indispensable tool type of the basketmaker is his or her forms or blocks. These are hand carved wood forms that the structure of the basket is woven around to create its shape.

These forms are carved out of solid pieces of wood or pieced together to make a specific form by family members. They are passed on to successive generations of basketmaker. Today you may find gauges and forms still in use that are over 100 years old.