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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1999)
i Smoke Signals 4 BDOWDT) toe started 77e ?c?tf to meet this woman because she had incredible knowledge and experience." Lisa Watt, Office of Museum Development d taste maker visit - i I L , $ " ' v H r V If 'v I garet Mathewson visited I " ' j i ' x ; 1 Stories and photos by Brent Merrill "ative basketry expert Mar garet Mathewson visited Grand Ronde on Tuesday, 9 and brought with her a wealth of information to share within the community. Mathewson, who lives on the Oregon Coast in Alsea, was the first speaker in what will be a se ries of guest lecturers to visit the Tribe. The speaker series is being sponsored by the Tribe's Office of Museum Development. Margaret Mathewson is a nationally recognized expert on American Indian basketry," said Lisa Watt. Watt is the Executive Director of the Tribe's Office of Museum Development. Watt said Mathewson works with Tribes by help ing revive ancient basket making traditions and methods. Watt, a member of the Seneca Nation who grew up on the Allegany Reservation in New York, said Mathewson's expertise is with the plants, ma terials and techniques of Native basketry. "She (Mathewson) is a fascinating woman, a wonderful speaker and she is extremely knowl edgeable," said Watt. "Basketry is one of the things that tribal mem bers can attach themselves to. They can really identify with it and they understand the value of it. They understand that it is part of their heri tage and that it is something that they can revive in a very healthy, ongoing way." Just over twenty people attended Mathewson's lecture in the Tribal Council chambers. A smaller group had met with her earlier in the day to dis cuss the baskets she brought for viewing and the technology involved in making those baskets. Watt said the smaller, more informal meeting with Mathewson in the morning was geared to wards identifying basket types. Watt introduced Mathewson and Tamsen Fuller to the audience and said Mathewson's knowledge "has been, to me, legendary. She has been a God send for us," said Watt. Fuller is the country's lead ing expert on American Indian and ethnographic collections according to Watt. "People started telling me I had to meet this woman because she had incredible knowledge and experience," said Watt of Mathewson. "She is thought of highly by lots of different tribes." Watt said Mathewson is unique in that she looks at basketry from the technology standpoint; she looks at how the baskets are made, what they are made from and what types of stitching is used rather than looking at baskets from an art dealer perspective which can be very different. Watt and tribal member Marion Mercier went to visit Mathewson in Alsea and found her grow ing her own natural willows and bear grass on the farm. Watt said Mathewson hosts week-long seminars in basket weaving at her farmhouse. The reason for bringing Mathew-son in to speak is because of the interest by local people in the community in basketry, Watt said. "The depth of her knowledge is just so impres sive," said Watt. Mathewson showed slides of different types of FAR LEFT: Lisa Watt admires a basket on display from Margaret Mathewson. 4 Mathewson shares basket making techniques during her visit to Grand Ronde. grasses used in basket making and she showed the different stitches and weaves used for differ ent baskets. She talked about methods of season ing the grasses and she said slow, natural drying is better than more modern, quicker ways of dry ing. She showed how different plants were used to make colors in the baskets. Sea grasses, Mathewson said, turn jet black when they are dried. Mathewson listed sea grass, slew grass, rush grass, bear grass, fir bark, cedar bark, spruce bark, pine trees and willow roots as basket making ma terials. She said baskets were different from re gion to region. Kathleen Feehan, of the Tribe's Natural Re sources department, invited those in attendance to comment on the Tribe's Ten Year Management Plan so that the importance of the plants used in basket making continue to be planted and cared for. Watt said future speakers will include Grand Ronde and Western Oregon basketry expert John Gogol, Hallie Ford Museum Curator Rebecca Dobkins and Portland State University professor Ken Ames. Watt said she hopes to set up some on-going classes for tribal members with Mathewson after the first of the year. Tribal member embraces old tradition IUTI t- ft ML.' -c ,3 ' 1 f il l CtTc' " ' -J V r- A I Grand Ronde tribal member Marion Mercier (pictured) believes basket making is an important part of the tribal culture and she won't let it die or fade away. Mercier gathers traditional basket making materials and practices the art of basket making. She said her only problem is waiting for the various grasses and roots to dry or season. Mercier said she is eager and wants to get started on a basket as soon as she gets the materials together, but she said she is learning to wait and be more patient. Mercier listened intently to a lecture from Native bas ketry expert Margaret Mathewson on Tuesday, Novem ber 9 about basket making. She asked questions that showed she had been participating in the traditional art rather than just studying it. "I really enjoyed the presentation because I got more detailed information," said Mercier. "She covers so much information." Mercier said she had listened to a lecture Mathewson gave in the spring and spent the time between lec tures gathering grasses and roots for her own basket making. "She (Mathewson) was able to answer questions about gathering so I loved being able to participate in that lecture," said Mercier. Mercier has lead efforts to work with Oregon State University on a program to help revive the art, and the Tribe offered a class in basketry through the OSU. Twenty-five tribal members learned the twining method and the coiling method of making baskets through the class. Mercier said those who continued have even begun to teach others. Mercier said she teaches a small group of five people what she knows about basketry, and Joanne Empey and Kim Contreras at the Before and After Day Care are teaching basket making techniques to the children. "We are all just sharing what we know about bas ketry and it is really growing to where we have enough people now that we can form a basket club," said Mer cier. "I think it is an important art to every Native Ameri can tribe so that is why it is important to Grand Ronde." Mercier and others are excited about the Tribe ac quiring basket and artifact collections now. She said members who have taken up the art have become knowledgeable and recognize styles and geographic distinctions when they view collections. "Something that is really fascinating about basketry is when the Tribes were moved here the people brought that art with them and adapted their materials to what was here," said Mercier. "Yet, they still made baskets. All the different baskets had a different purpose." People interested in the art of basketry should not be intimidated. Once you learn the methods it is not that difficult, Mercier said. "You just have to take the time and sit and do it," she said. "That is what we don't have enough of is time. We have people who could be master basket makers, but we have a lot of people that have to work full time and aren't going to be able to sit and make baskets." Mercier looks forward to her future basket making endeavors and learning as much as she can. "The more that I get to work with my own materials, the greater that connection will be with what I'm actu ally making and I think that is going to be true of all the people who are going to make baskets," said Mercier of herself and her fellow basket makers. "You really have a connectedness in working with the natural material."
