How long does it take to make one of these baskets?
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Many people ask, “How long does it take to make one of these (Maine Indian) baskets?” The unknowable answer must include the value of the accumulated knowledge of hundreds of years of Wabanaki basket makers, ash harvesters, and sweetgrass pickers. It must include the hours spent in the woods scouting for good ash, harvesting trees, bringing them home, pounding them, and stripping them. It must include the time it takes to dye the splints. It must include the time it takes to make wooden forms of different shapes, and tools such as gauges to split the ash into even splints. It must include the quiet time it takes to come up with new designs. Plus, there is the time spent selecting the right splints for each part of each basket, and the time spent by uniquely skilled hands, pulling it all together into a fine finished product.
Nick Halsdohttps://homeandaway.gallery/product-category/native-american-art/baskets/rf, basket maker Sarah Sockbeson’s partner, addressed this issue and provided inspiration for the answer to the question “How long does it take to make a basket”? The answer is it takes time: generations of time.