Donna Kelley came to the front of the room, swinging a handmade basket on her arm.
She said that for thousands of years in earlier cultures, many things were carried or stored in baskets. They were the original shopping bags and were indispensable before the advent of metal pails, plastic buckets and cardboard boxes.
Kelley was presenting a program in mid-November at the Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum of Warner about Newton Washburn, a master basket maker. She noted that Washburn (1915-2011) was a fifth-generation basket-maker who started making baskets when he was eight years of age. He made his baskets exclusively with strips of wood from the brown ash tree. Washburn's great-great-grandfather had come from Germany, bringing with him the European tradition of basketry, and he married an Abenaki woman who had her own Native American approach to making baskets. Over time the two basket-making methods merged into a shared heritage that became known as Washburn's signature style of baskets.
“Silent Bear,” the other name by which Washburn was known, reflects his Native American roots. He had often talked about his family's basket-making craft. In his words, “All winter we made baskets by lamplight to sell – either that or go hungry.” The log of an ash tree, from which Washburn made baskets, was first pounded to loosen the growth rings which could be cut into strips. The tough and pliable ash wood strips were then woven to form a basket.
Today, ash trees are in trouble. The emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle, has been responsible for killing tens of millions of ash trees in 15 states. This wood-boring beetle was accidentally introduced into North America by way of wood packing material from Asia in the summer of 2002.
Chris Rallis of Concord is the state surveycoordinator for the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture. He said that the emerald ash borer has not yet been found in New Hampshire, and he wants to keep it that way. He cautions the public not to bring firewood here from other areas. This beetle pest can travel hundreds of miles in firewood that is loaded in a car trunk or camper. The adult beetle, which is a half-inch long and a dark metallic green, lays its eggs under the bark of an ash tree. The larvae that hatch from the eggs will kill the tree by feeding on the tree's vital inner bark.
Kelley, who collects baskets, showed me the basket she had been swinging on her arm. On the bottom of the basket the name “Newton Washburn” was clearly marked. She said, “Washburn not only made great baskets, he also taught the craft to others.”
Kelley, who teaches math at Plymouth State University, overflowed with enthusiasm as she talked about handmade baskets and the times she visited with Newt Washburn, a master basket-maker.
