Iti Fab ssa Choctaw baskets

[Pages:2]Iti Fabussa

Choctaw baskets

By a request from the editor, this month's edition of Iti

Fabvssa focuses on Choctaw river cane basketry. This im-

portant traditional artform combines native materials, intricate weaves, and attractive colors, drawing upon creative inspiration and a profoundly deep tradition, to form something that is Choctaw to its core. For centuries, basketry has been a visible, functional art in our communities, and today it is also prominently featured in museums and galleries

Choctaw double-weave trunk basket (three views) ca. 1830-1850.

across the nation and the globe. Cane basketry is the tradi-

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cane is difficult to get.

roots of the dock plant in the fall, pounding them up with a mortar

Cane was an important resource to our ancestors, who developed and pestle, and boiling them in water. The red dye was made dying

many uses for it, including blowguns, arrow shafts, matting, con- cane with dock root, then burning equal parts of red oak bark and

struction material, shields, flutes, knives, and food. Basket mak- black gum bark into ash, mixing them with water to form a paste,

ers located their favorite cane patches that produced cane with the and then putting the paste of the yellow-dyed can. Over time, the

qualities they desired. Good cane for basketry was found on islands alkalinity of the ash would turn the yellow dye to red (Bushnell

near the banks of rivers and creeks. In fact, one of the creeks lo- 1909:14). The dye absorbs darker into the interior side of the cane,

cated in what is now Noxubbe Co., Mississippi, was called "Oski and so this part is always faced outwards on baskets. Beginning

ai almo", meaning literally "cane there gathered" (Halbert n.d.). around 1900, many Choctaw basket-makers began to use commer-

This was only one of many places that our ancestors collected their cial dyes.

cane.

While men and boys sometimes help to harvest the cane, weav-

Sometimes, these cane patches were at a distance from where ing it into baskets was and is primarily an art of women. These

people lived, so basket makers set up cane-harvesting camps, usu- women have developed variations in twilling and diagonal plating

techniques to form damp cane

have become a critically endan-

into a variety of basketry forms

gered ecosystem. Two hundred

for a variety of uses:

years ago, some canebrakes ex-

One of the oldest is the "ki-

tended for miles, but today, it is

shi," or pack basket (unless

rare to find a cane patch even 100

noted, the following Choctaw

yards in extent. The reasons are

basket names can be found in

many including the damaging ef-

Byington 1915). This large,

fects of cattle grazing, plowing

basket was carried on a wom-

up cane habitat for farmland, fire

an's back with the use of a se-

suppression, and the channeliza-

curing strap that was worn on

tion of streams. The loss of river

her forehead. This was used for

cane is serious to everyone be-

gathering and transportation.

cause the cane helps to filter and

This type of basket was also

purify water, and provides habi-

used to move the dirt to create

tat to a number of animals. The

the earthmounds.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw In-

Another early basket is the

dians is currently partnered with

"ufko," or fanner. This is a flat

Mississippi State University to

basket with one high end, it was used to winnow the husks

Oklahoma Choctaw women weaving cane basketry.

study the biology of river cane in an effort to help this important

from pounded corn kernels.

native plant to survive into the

The "ishshoha" (Bushnell 1909:8), is a flat basket with an open future (visit ).

weave in the bottom. It was used as a sieve in the kitchen. Kishi,

Today, as new generations of Choctaws learn basketry, as Choc-

ufko, and ishshoha were intended for heavy work, and were not taw people work to encourage the growth of new river cane patch-

decorated with colored designs, only variations in the weave of es, and as others work to raise the awareness of and the demand

the cane.

for Choctaw basketry, the future of the art is very much in Choc-

Tapa, and tvpishuk are square-shaped flat baskets of decreas- taw hands. As basketry shows, these hands have proven pretty able

ing size, sometimes intended for utilitarian purposes, and some- over the last 7,000 years.

times decorated with beautiful colored designs. Topak is a handled

square basket. Taposhake shakapa is an elbow-shaped basket, with References Cited

a handle and two openings. Taposhake chufa is a basket that nar-

rows from a wide rim down to a pointed base; usually, it has a han- Bushnell, David

dle (Bushnell 1909:15). Some of the finest Choctaw baskets are

1909 The Choctaw Indians of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany

"tapushik pothoma," or double weaves. These have double walls, Parish, Louisiana. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American

with different designs on the inside and outside of the basket.

Ethnology, Bulletin 48. Government Printing Office, Washington

Other types of Choctaw baskets have probably been devel- D.C.

oped more recently. One of these is the market basket, which has

handles and can sometimes resemble a purse. Another form is the Byington, Cyrus

wall-hanging basket. Still others have lids and include: hampers,

1915 A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language. Bureau of Amer-

"sewing" baskets, and "button" baskets (See Swanton 2001:41 for ican Ethnology Vol. 46, Washington.

additional basket types and Choctaw names).

Choctaw basketry came to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. Colvin, Tom

Many families made utilitarian baskets for use and trade up into

2006 Cane and Palmetto Basketry of the Choctaw of St. Tam-

the 1950s. When Choctaw traditional foods and food-processing many Parish. In The Work of Tribal Hands. Northwestern State

techniques that required baskets began to be given up in favor of University Press

"easier" Euro-American equivalents, the art of basketry began

to be practiced by fewer and fewer Oklahoma Choctaws. Today, Neuman, Robert

there are a couple of active Oklahoma Choctaw river cane basket-

2006 Split Cane Items in Louisiana: A View from Archaeology

makers. Some other active Oklahoma Choctaw basket-makers use and Ethnology. In The Work of Tribal Hands. Northwestern State

materials other than cane, while many other individuals have ex- University Press

pressed an interest in working to revitalize the art. The Jena Band

of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana currently has one active basket- Swanton, John R.

maker. The situation is somewhat different in Mississippi, where

1946 The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Smith-

although the demand for the old-style cooking and storage bas- sonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 137.

kets has declined over the last 50 years, the market for colorful Greenwood Press Publishers, New York.

decorated baskets has expanded. Today, the Mississippi Band of

2001 Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of

Choctaw Indians has approximately 30-40 basket-makers. Some the Choctaw Indians. Reprint. University of Alabama Press, Tus-

of these families still go out to cane-harvesting camps in the cool caloosa.

season, and make baskets year-round for sale (Dr. Kennith York,

personal communication, 2011).

Choctaw basketry has always connected the people to the land.

? BISKINIK, February 2011

Today, basket-makers face a serious challenge, in that cane brakes

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