NEA National Heritage Fellow Mary Jackson - Blog
Transcript of conversation with Mary Jackson
Mary Jackson: We all made baskets during the summer months. I did not like it because it was just hard work. We learn how to harvest the grasses for making these baskets which was very vital because there were specific grasses that were used for making these baskets. So we had to learn how to go out in the marshes and the swamps to harvest the grasses. Traditionally the men harvest the grasses, but women also learned to harvest them as well because many families did not have a male person to harvest the grasses. But as children we’re taught all aspect of making these baskets, and that was part of the learning process. And then after the grasses are dried to get specific colors, they’re then ready for weaving into baskets. And this was another difficult process because it’s all hand done. The grasses are not wet or soaked to work with. They’re woven dry. So this makes it kind of difficult on the hands. So that was one of the real drawback in making baskets. So it was never fun to me. But it was almost a chore that my family, my mother and father, insist that we do. Because, again, it kept us busy. And then they felt it was important to learn the art form. They did not expect us to do this for the rest of our lives. Was just growing up learning to do this.
