I’ve just taken the first project off the Binder loom, and am processing it to be ready for Christmas gifts. It’s been interesting getting to know the loom. More on that another time.
My eldest daughter recently went on a business trip to Charleston, SC, and while she was there sent me some pictures of baskets she saw for sale along the streets. She thought I would enjoy seeing them, and I did. I was also curious about the origins of these baskets. I’ve done some basket weaving and I am aware that some basket styles (the types I wove) are Native American in origin. My daughter said that the sewn grass baskets she had taken pictures of were being sold by African American women, so I wondered if these might have an origin in some part of Africa. I did a little Internet research.
Apparently the South Carolina sewn grass baskets are very similar to baskets made in Sierra Leone. It is believed that slaves brought the knowledge of these baskets with them to the US in the seventeenth century. The baskets were made by both male and female slaves; males made large baskets to use in the fields, and females made smaller baskets for the house. In the early 20th century embellishments began to be added to the baskets and they started to take the decorative form they have today. According to www.SCIWAY.net (South Carolina Information Highway) the baskets are the South Carolina State Handcraft.
I found these baskets very moving. I thought about the people who brought this skill to the US, people whose lives had been torn apart, whose world had been turned upside down. They had been violently handled, abused, seen and experienced horrors I can’t even imagine. They lost their home, their family; really, everything that was familiar was taken from them. But they kept this skill and were able to use it to make their life here just a little better, a little easier, a tiny bit more like home. I’m amazed at the human ability to adapt and survive.
Apparently these lovely baskets are now endangered. The habitat of the grasses used to make them is being destroyed, cheap imitations are being imported and sold to tourists, and few of the younger generation care to learn to make them. One of the women my daughter spoke with had taught her granddaughter how to sew the baskets; they made them together. There are some who still cherish the craft, so perhaps it will not die out altogether. I hope that is the case, and the few who retain interest can sustain the production of these baskets which are so beautiful and so rich in history.
Maple Woods Handweaving 