Entries from December 27th, 2005

Cynthia Porcher has completed a five-year study of the Gullah culture in South Carolina and Georgia at the request of the National Park Service. She concentrated on the five counties of Beaufort, Charleston and Georgetown in South Carolina and Glenn and McIntosh in Georgia, trying to learn all she could about the culture and to also dispense with the multitude of myths surrounding these people and their past history of slavery.

As a white woman in a black culture, Porcher had to first gain the trust of those she wanted to interview. Once that was accomplished, she was able to learn about their beliefs, language, and the crafts of net-making and basketry that have sustained these peoples for generations.

The National Parks System, local and State governments are trying to protect these peoples from land development, which would rob them of the natural environment they are so dependent on.

Read more about this basketry topic in the Island Packet, December 26, 2005 issue online newspaper at http://www.islandpacket.com/news/state/regional/story/5422868p-4898520c.html

[Read more →]

“The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga,” published in 2002.
Search for this book through my Alibris affiliate form in the left-hand navigation.

Master canoe builder and Ely, Minnesota icon, Joe Seliga, passed away on Sunday, December 18, 2005.

In his long and fruitful career, 94-year old Joe handcrafted over 600 cedar-canvas canoes, the last one he completed was #675. The half completed #677 will go to the YMCA Camp Widjiwagan on Burntside Lake, outside of Ely, which ordered its first Seliga canoe in 1948.

A few years ago, Joe was the featured speaker at the Grand Marais, MN North House Folk School’s Wooden Boat Show in June and had a book published documenting his fine craftsmanship through pictures and words in 2002. He also taught many canoe boat-building workshops around the northern Minnesota area.

Joe Seliga was a jovial, warm man who enjoyed life and people in general and was a delightful ambassador for his beloved hometown of Ely.

To read more about his life and wonderful canoes, search my Alibris affiliate form (in the left-hand navigation) for the book, “The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga,” published in 2002.

And to read the blog tribute Steve Piragis, owner of Piragis Northwoods Company in Ely, established for Joe visit http://www.inmemoryofjoeseliga.blogspot.com

[Read more →]

Great last minute Christmas present for that basketmaker on your list! Search for the “Weaving New Worlds: Southeastern Cherokee Women and Their Basketry” by Sara H. Hill ($27.50, University of North Carolina Press) book through my Alibris affiliate. Use the Alibris form (to the left in the navigation area) to receive the book at a much discounted price and help WickerWoman.com generate income, too!

[Read more →]

The latest issue of the Basketmakers’Association Newsletter for basketmakers and chairseaters #115, published and organized in England arrived in my mailbox on November 26. Pictures on the front cover are of a basketweaver at work, created by grade school children using charcoal made from willow.

Sorry about being so late and forthcoming with this information, since this issue it’s packed with over 80 pages of interesting articles and pictures about the happenings of the basketweaving and seatweaving professions. Fairs, workshops, classes, exhibits and more!

Caroline and Neil have done a great job with this issue, getting all the pictures and articles assembled and published. Be sure to visit the website for more great stuff and consider becoming a member. Costs over here in the States is $48 annually, and $68 for a couple.

http://www.basketassoc.org

[Read more →]

The Lake Country Basket Guild in Wisconsin now has a brand new website! Some of the pages are not quite ready and functioning yet, but most are. So take a look, join the guild and then attend the Lake Country Basket Fest workshop, (open to members only) on May 5,6 & 7, 2006 in Brookfield, WI.

LakeCountryBasketGuild.com

[Read more →]