I have been making baskets for over forty years. It has become increasingly more difficult over time to get the natural materials needed for my baskets. Land that I once harvested on has now been settled into suburban developments or made into wildlife land preserves where nothing can be harvested. Worse yet, paths I’ve walked on since I was a toddler are now being sprayed with chemicals to prevent the spread of plants that someone decided are invasive. And a new threat has entered the picture in recent years, acid rain. It has taken a while but finally someone is paying attention to our eastern forests. Change is just not happening fast enough.

I believe the ancestors have gifted us with four techniques of basketry: coiling, twined, plaited and one piece container, which are represented in these eight baskets. Coiling can be seen in the red curtain ties and abalone shell basket, which is traditionally made out of pine needles while the multi colored coiled basket is made from a Barnes and Noble shopping bag. Twined basketry was used in the basket made of scraps of electrical wire, which would traditionally be made of willow and red oshier. Another example is the yogurt container with ribbon that would also traditionally use willow and red oshier. Examples of plaited baskets are the small baskets made of a Pepsi can and a Cocoa Puffs cereal box. Both pieces are representative of a plaited ash basket. Finally, there are two one piece containers that mimic a birchbark basket (using an old file folder and tissue paper) and a gourd (using a baby food jar). By using alternative materials, I am showing that natural, traditional materials are becoming ever more scarce.

Over the generations, political, social and environmental issues have forced people to adapt. Tradition equals adapting. I too have adapted to change. In some small way, I hope to make a difference by teaching younger people to make baskets by using recyclable materials. This way the gift of technology lives on and the trees and plants are left free to hopefully find the strength to fight this new threat without interference from the future basket makers.

In my basket-making classes, my students use primarily recycled materials that I collect from friends and relatives. In this way, if we can save the land, perhaps one day we will be able to live again in our traditional ways and use our traditional materials.

Judy Dow