What are the needs of all these plants? This is a critical question for us. Rest, protection, appreciation and respect are a few of the values we need to give these fellow passengers through time.
– Haida elder Barbara Wilson, quoted in Nancy Turner's The Earth's Blanket (2004: 216)
I fell in love with this ancient craft of the hedgerows while studying in rural England a decade ago, and vowed to expand my weaving practice from wool to willow as soon as I could find a teacher. When we moved to eastern Canada, I took workshops with Mary Lauren Fraser in Vermont and Lene Rasmussen in Ontario, bought a load of instructional books, planted five varieties of basket willow in our front yard, and started propagating wild dogwood and grape. Now I'm continuing my apprenticeship online with Hanna Van Aelst in Tipperary, Ireland, who shares her knowledge so generously. Below are some of my favourite videos and books on basketry, linked when possible to the creator's website. In many communities, weavers' guilds and associations can offer more specialized guidance. Happy weaving.
Short Films
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This beautiful short film from KCET's Tending the Wild series focuses on the traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom involved in basketweaving, and the eco-cultural restoration being carried out by indigenous peoples in what is currently known as Southern California. KCET also created a full-length documentary on basketweaving that you can find here.
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Here British basket-weaver Sue Kirk replicates a Bronze Age willow eel basket from photographs of the remains found at Must Farm in Whittlesey, England. I find it so exciting that contemporary artists can revive and celebrate the knowledge and skills of ancient people, bringing our connection to our ancestors out of the museum and into lived experience.
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Favourite Books
Mary Lauren Fraser, my first basketry teacher, told us that if we learn well from books then Bernard and Regula Verdet-Fierz's Willow Basketry is the one to buy. How true! Regula's gorgeous lino cut illustrations bring every step to life. A beautiful and instructive book.
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I was so excited to read this beautiful book that I preordered it months before it got to print. Jenny Crisp's affection for willow and for the practice of weaving glow from every lovely page, and she manages to cover all the basics without overwhelming the reader. She makes willow work feel accessible and exciting.
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This second printing of Osma Gallinger Tod's 1933 basketry book has been lovingly edited and updated by her daughter. It focuses on weaving with found materials from woodlands and fields, urging us to "Go forth under the open sky and listen to nature's teachings." Wonderful.
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This early publication of Nancy Turner's is a wonderful introduction to the ethnobotany of weaving and other plant technologies in what is currently called British Columbia. I find the ingenuity, resourcefulness and extraordinary skill of indigenous peoples a perennial source of awe and inspiration. Long may these cultures and relationships flourish.
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