Wabanaki Basketmaking

(Native American drumming and chanting) - [Debbie] I'm Debbie Nicholas.

I'm a basket maker.

I'm Passamaquoddy.

My Aunt Teresa Gardner, and my Aunt Clara Keyser, and my mom would braid the sweet grass.

She taught me how to make the different colors, diamond twists, porcupine twist, and the curls.

She loved the curls, especially with her strawberry baskets.

Those are beautiful.

My aunts had always inspired me to make baskets, and I've learned since I was young, watching them.

When I buy the ash, I have to do the splitting.

My Aunt Clara showed me how to do the split.

And once it's split, then we gauge it to different sizes.

- My name is Eldon Hanning.

I'm a Mi'kmaq from Rooster County.

I am demonstrating the splitting, and the weaving of a basket made out of brown ash.

What I'm gonna show you right now, is what happened when you pound it.

Break the fibers in between, and it separates the strips.

- [Gabriel] My name is Gabriel Frey.

I'm a Passamaquoddy basket maker.

I primarily work in black ash and natural dyes.

I work with several other artists on collaborative pieces.

This particular piece is a collaboration, with a jeweler: Nesa Smiley.

And then the front is dyed with log wood.

It's natural dyes.

And then this is another collaborative piece that I did.

My mother did the bead work on it.

And then the basket itself is all black ash.

This is a miniature anvil and these are little caps that are specifically sized, for that rivet.

So now that's secured on there.

Now that's done.

I learned how to make baskets from my grandfather.

Who was a strict utilitarian.

He primarily worked in traditional sort of, like, utility baskets, pack baskets, scale baskets.

It was over a long period of time, that I tried to marry the fancy basket tradition, of Wabanaki basket making, with the utility baskets.

So it's taking the idea of utility, and trying to bring it into the modern era.

(Native American drumming and chanting)