Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

An Akwesasne basketmaker is looking to pass down his craft to an apprentice and will get help from New York state to make it happen.

Jack Johnson, who learned the traditional craft from Henry Arquette, a renowned local master basketmaker, will now take Levi Herne under his wing.

"I'm glad I'm able to be a part of this program that's going to hopefully not let Mohawk basketmaking, especially the way Henry Arquette taught me, be lost. I'd hate for his teachings to be lost," Johnson said.

The state Master Basketmaker Grant will pay for his time and supplies to teach Herne what he learned from Arquette.

"We have to build the molds, some gauges, like cutters. A lot of it is time, training, and doing things over and over," he said.

Johnson uses a basketmaking method that has been passed down for generations.

"He (Arquette) would talk about going to his grandfather's and making baskets and after with his father. He tried to pass it down to his kids, but I don't know what happened," Johnson said. "I stayed in his basement for about eight hours a day for one whole year straight, five days per week. That was pretty rough on my family. And I still work my 40 hours per week. It was a sacrifice you have to make to make sure it doesn't get lost. He's already passed away, so he's not going to be around to ask any questions or teach anybody else."

Johnson's interest in basketmaking was sparked after receiving one as a present.

"I was given a packbasket as a gift. I wanted to try and figure out how to do it ... make sure the craft of how the certain kind of basket I make isn't lost," he said. "A lot of the ones I make range from packbaskets, laundry baskets, wedding baskets, we have picnic baskets, none of the bigger type."

He said the method takes seven to 10 days to weave a single basket, if the wood is prepared. If not, he uses a method called pounding.

"It's a whole long process because you go right from the tree, you have to pound it, get your bundles. You have to split them, clean them. It's a lot of work," Johnson said.

Pounding wood involves using the blunt side of an ax to strike a 10- or 12-foot log every inch four times all in a row at the same speed. This breaks up the splints that are used to make the basket.

"You can't miss one quarter inch of hitting it, then you can pull the strips off. If you miss one even by like an inch, it won't split. It might take me three days to do one log," Johnson said.

He said he uses black ash for the basket itself and white ash for rims and handles. He sometimes uses local trees, but says the best comes from the Kitigan Zibi reservation in Quebec, near Maniwaki.

Johnson occasionally teaches what he knows, sometimes at the Akwesasne Library, and sometimes at rite-of-passage programs for boys and girls.

"I just like people to know that I don't want it to be lost. I want it to get bigger and flourish and have more programs like this and have more basket-making opportunities," Johnson said.

In addition to his basketmaking, Johnson also makes traditional lacrosse sticks and canes.

Levi Herne looks on as Jack Johnson uses the drawhorse to shape a lacrosse stick. Photo by Kaniehtonkie.

"I only use the original gutwall, sidewall. I don't use any string. I make it all, I buy the cowhide, scrape it, clean it, make the old original gutwall that's the way it used to be done a long time ago so that's the way I do it," he said.

He has made sticks for the Thompson brothers, Mike Powell, Casey Powell and other famous players.

"The one I did for the Thompsons was special," Johnson said. "I cut the trees on the property of the Thompson brothers' grandfather, Harvey, then made sticks for the grandfather, father and four brothers, then we presented them at his 80th birthday. It worked out really good," he said.

Johnson also makes canes. He recently made one for NFL legend and film star Jim Brown, which has a football for a handle. He also made one for Roy Simmons Jr., a lacrosse coach who lead Syracuse University to six NCAA titles, and an SU alumni who is 101 years old.

"I try to pick up any craft I can," Johnson said.