Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2008 - (Page 37) Chitimacha basketmaking techniques have been passed from generation to generation. Prolific basketmaker Clara Darden, who died in the beginning of the 20th century at the age of 110, is often credited with the survival of the tradition. At the turn of the 19th century, Clara was one of a few Chitimacha who were still making single- and double-weave baskets with traditional patterns. Her comprehensive collection was used to teach a younger generation the historical techniques and designs that are used today. Unmarried and childless, Clara taught her great-grandniece Delphine Stouff how to weave. Today, distant relatives of Clara Darden and descendants of Delphine Stouff comprise most of the handful of Chitimacha who practice the art. John and Melissa Darden learned from their grandmother Lydia, and John’s wife, Scarlette, learned from her grandmother Ernestine Darden Walls, sister of Lydia. Ada Stouff Thomas learned from a relative, either a Stouff or a Darden, and passed her skill on continued from page 31 to her son Raymond. Despite efforts by the Chitimacha to cultivate river cane, the once-abundant plant continues in a state of decline first reported in the 1930s. Contemporary Chitimacha basketmakers are often forced to look beyond the reservation — and beyond Louisiana — for the materials used to make baskets. Yet neither difficulty in obtaining material nor the time required to make even a single basket has deterred these contemporary artists from continuing their ancestors’ craft. They recognize that each basket is more than a singularly beautiful object—it is a manifestation and remembrance of their history. LCV Excerpted with permission from the catalog for Blue Winds Dancing: The Whitecloud Collection of American Art, © 2005, New Orleans Museum of Art. Paul Tarver is the registrar and curator of Native American and pre-Columbian art at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Jane Somerville Irvin is curatorial assistant at the New Orleans Museum of Art. JANIE LUSTER (HOUMA, CONTEMPORARY) Pointe Au Chene, Louisiana Basket with Handles, 1998-99 Palmetto; height 5-3/4 inches, width 7-3/4 inches, depth 3-1/4 inches This attractive basket by Janie Luster is an example of a lost tradition reborn. For many years the intricate halfhitch coil weave was a forgotten technique among Houma basketmakers. While still weaving traditional palmetto frond baskets, there were no half-hitch examples in the area to use as a teaching tool. In the early 1990s, Richard Conn, the curator of Native American art at the Denver Art Museum, contacted a representative of the Houma. He wanted to let them know that his collection included a badly damaged half-hitch basket and offered to teach the Houma basketmakers the technique by un-weaving and re-weaving the basket in their presence. The affirmative reply led to a trip by Conn to Golden Meadow, Louisiana, a town on Bayou Lafourche. The demonstration took place in the community center; by the end of the day, a lost heritage had been regained. Spring 2008/LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES 37
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.