MAKERS OF BASKETS

“MAKERS OF BASKETS”

There is an aura of mystique in this scene with the gentle mauve hue of early morning and the smoke that lightly dances throughout. The year is 1922 when a group of natives came under contract to do their trade as woodsman clearing land in a Lake Erie hardwood forest.

Women of the tribe accompanied the men to handle the domestic chores and sell their beautiful black ash, handwoven baskets to the neighboring farms. The innocence of the farm children was drawn by this unique culture, and they visited often to observe these unfamiliar rituals.

Yes, as in many of Suchiu’s paintings, the people are real and these prints have a second autograph by Terry Doxtater, the well-known aboriginal leader, featured in the background. Suchiu captured this scene as it was described to him and through this talented artist, the spirits live on.