Traditional Indigenous ash basket weaving workshop at Concordia University

What do you get when you mix tradition, creativity, and a bit of elbow grease? A hands-on lesson in ash basket weaving!

The Concordia University Research Chair in Onkwehonwené:ha has teamed up with facilitator Chelsea Phillips for a workshop in Montreal, bringing together people from all walks of life — including Concordia’s Indigenous community — to keep this beautiful craft alive.

“I do beading, I do other stuff, but it’s really nice to be able to try something that’s kind of out of your wheelhouse and to be taught by somebody who’s also very close to the person that’s been doing this for a long time, just seeing that kind of being passed on is vital for the like the thriving and survival of our cultures and traditions,” said Dayna Danger, a workshop attendee & PhD student at Concordia University.

“Once I saw that this was happening, I signed right up, right away,” they exclaimed.

The current facilitator of the three-day workshop, Chelsea Phillips learned about basket weaving in 2021 from Richard Nolan, a Kahnawake elder who she says is one of the only people who still knows how to make them. She’s been passing on the knowledge ever since.

“This basket that they’re making is a mini wedding basket, in our culture, there are baskets that go with the roles and responsibilities,” said Phillips.

“When you’re to be married in a long house, the man and woman make their, each their own basket. And the woman would put things like clothing and food, gardening seeds, the man would put in things like furs, fishing stuff, hunting stuff, because that is their roles in the partnership of their marriage to raise their family together, and they would exchange that during their ceremony.”

According to Phillips, there are three other types of baskets, each with their own ceremony, representing a different chapter as a person goes through life. The mini wedding basket taught here is the final basket in the traditions of the Onkwehonwené:ha Indigenous culture.

Phillips said: “All our baskets are made from black ash trees. It’s endangered. The black ash burrow killed mostly all the trees in our area so it’s becoming endangered. The last class that I did give, the black ash burrow was in the trees and there was parts of it that were dead. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep teaching for so it’s really important to keep the knowledge alive.”

The black ash tree – from which these baskets are traditionally made – takes 50 years to grow and soon there won’t be any left, which is why Phillips says it’s important to teach the craft to new generations who will be able to continue making the baskets once the trees have had the chance to grow back.

“It’s just a great opportunity to be able to come to Concordia and be around other folks in community, also because we don’t always often get access to different cultural activities, especially in the city as like an urban person, you know, having that access is like super important, and being able to make that community in Montreal too is also very important” Danger said.

“For me, it’s really an honor to be able to learn this,” they added.