Akwesasne Mohawk ash splint and sweetgrass basket makers, 1994.
Akwesasne Mohawk ash splint and sweetgrass basket makers, 1994.
Akwesasne Mohawk ash splint and sweetgrass basket makers demonstrating, c.1994.
Akwesasne Mohawk ash splint and sweetgrass basket maker at work. Date and photographer unknown.
Ash splint and sweetgrass fancy basket made by Akwesasne Mohawk basket maker. Date and photographer unknown.
Strawberry Basket, a kind of ash splint and sweetgrass fancy basket, made by Akwesasne Mohawk basket maker. Date and photographer unknown.
Ash splint and sweetgrass fancy basket made by Akwesasne Mohawk basket maker. Date and photographer unknown.
Inverted Weaving Basket by Josephine Delormier. Date and photographer unknown.
Various splint weaving styles by Nanci Ransom. Date and photographer unknown.
Globe Basket by Florence Benedict. Date and photographer unknown.
Trio of woven pineapple weave baskets by Denise Jock. Date and photographer unknown.
Woven and dyed covered splint basket by Shirley Thompson, 2011. Photographer unknown.
Cornhusk dolls by Gail General and Pam Brown. Date and photographer unknown.
Akwesasne Mohawk ash splint and sweetgrass basket makers, 1994. Younger generations of basket makers continue to learn from more experienced basket makers in the community, often growing up around elders who practice the art.
New York State Governor Mario Cuomo and Akwesasne museum director Donna Cole at awards ceremony, 1988. Photographer unknown.
Mary Adams in her home basement workshop at Akwesasne, 1992.
Mary Adams in her home basement workshop at Akwesasne, 1992.
Mary Adams in her home basement workshop at Akwesasne, 1992.
Mary Adams in her home basement workshop at Akwesasne, after completing a four-tiered ash splint and sweetgrass Wedding Cake Basket, 1992.
Mary Adams' four-tiered ash splint and sweetgrass Wedding Cake Basket, 1992.
Mary Adams picking sweetgrass. Date and photographer unknown.
Mary Adams and family picking sweetgrass. Date and photographer unknown.

Akwesasne Mohawk Territory
(Franklin County, NY)
Mohawk Ash Splint & Sweetgrass Basket Makers

This profile is possible thanks to an underwriting gift from the Nihanawate Chapter DAR.

In a survey around the time of this award in 1994, 105 Mohawks, mostly women, identified themselves as active makers of fine ash splint and sweetgrass baskets. Prized through the generations as much for their fragrance as for usefulness and fine quality, most of their baskets have been conventional in form and decoration, made primarily to satisfy the demands of the souvenir trade.  A few of the women at Akwesasne are recognized within the community as “the best,” and have been instrumental in teaching the art to dozens of the younger generations. In recent decades— proclaimed as “artists” by writers and galleries elsewhere—these women have been experimenting with innovative designs and new techniques. A number of the basket makers regularly travel—to colleges, museums, or international powwows—to demonstrate and show their work. Today, examples of their work are featured in the collections of major museums, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Vatican.

Click here to listen to the TAUNY/NCPR “Meet the Masters” story about the Akwesasne Basket Makers.

 

In the video clip below, Mary Adams of the Akwesasne Basket Makers explains how she created the fancy basket she calls “the Pope basket.”

 

In the video clip below, Governor Cuomo presents the NYS Governor’s Arts Award to the Akwesasne Basketmakers in 1988.

 

Click and listen to the audio clips below to learn more about the Akwesasne Basket Makers:

Mae Bigtree recalls how Mohawk baskets were sold when she was a child.

 

How Mae is inspired to create new designs or try new techniques.

 

Mary Adams hopes others can carry on basket-making at Akwesasne after she is gone.

  • Award Inherited Traditions
  • Award Year 1994
  • Location Akwesasne Mohawk Territory (Coinciding with Franklin County, NY, St. Lawrence River Valley)
  • Categories Religion & Ethnicity