Dr. Rickert recalls her memories with blask ash basketry:
"They would find just the right black ash trees in the thick forest around them. They cut down the trees with hand tools, lugged them home
and stacked them. After the black ash trees dried, [my family] would pound the logs, then peel off strips of wood along the trunk; these strips of wood were then cut into equal widths. Next, the strips were soaked in tubs of water. The water was dyed with natural materials: ragweed for yellow; choke cherries for red; strawberries for red; and huckleberries for blue. Sometimes they mixed the colors. The strips were woven into a beautiful basket, using the colors and twists of the wood for designs. When the baskets dried, they would hold their shape and be very sturdy.
They also made utilitarian Black Ash baskets, and sold them, going from door to door in downtown Grand Rapids and at Pow Wows."
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Kelly Church of the Grand Traverse Odawa-Ojibwe, say that "in the coming decade, black ash split baskets, ash bark baskets, and hand-carved ash cradleboards will become some of the rarest, collectible pieces of Native art. Black ash (Nigra fraxinus), also known as brown ash, is a tree that only grows in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The Native Nations in these areas have woven baskets from the black ash tree for thousands of years. First, they wove utilitarian baskets, and after contact, fancy baskets to provide for the needs of the communities and families."
In 2002, a group of researchers from Michigan State University discovered the emerald ash borer (EAB) in southeastern Michigan. This beetle, Agrilus planipennis, was introduced to Michigan through infected ash pallets from China. Thousands of ash trees were discovered to be dying and dead, and today Michigan has lost over 400 million of its 803 million ash trees due to EAB.
A 2009 documentary captures the story of Gun Lake Potawatomi Tribal member, Steve Pigeon and his family as they preserve this important tradition. You can watch it HERE.
