Anyone who has ever visited South Carolina’s Lowcountry would be familiar with the sweetgrass basket. These baskets, arguably the region’s best known art form, are rooted in Gullah traditions. The art of making sweetgrass baskets can be traced back to enslaved West Africans on the rice plantations of the Southeast. The first sweetgrass baskets, large round flat baskets called fanner baskets, were used during the rice harvest to separate the grain from the husk. The forms and sizes of the baskets evolved over time as their usage expanded into different household functions. Sweetgrass baskets are still made the traditional way. They are coiled by hand, applying the skills passed down from generation to generation, using only simple tools and local natural materials.
I recently had the opportunity to learn about sweetgrass basket making at the Coastal Discovery Museum in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Our instructor, Daurus Niles known as The Gullah Dream Weaver, is an 8th generation sweetgrass basket maker.
Daurus learned the art of sweetgrass basketry from her grandmother and other family members. Here are a few closeups of her outstanding work
Usually the class learns how to make a small sweetgrass basket. But during the month of December, Daurus switches it up and has the class weave a small sweetgrass wreath. She’s a great instructor—knowledgeable, attentive and patient. To make the most of our time (the class is 2 hours long), Daurus starts the wreathes. Here’s my starter wreath along with the simple tools we used—a pair of scissors and a “nail bone” (actually a repurposed spoon handle).
Palmetto fronds, stripped into narrow ribbons, are woven around strands of sweetgrass. Here’s a closeup of Daurus demonstrating the weaving technique.
We learned how to use the nail bone to make a small opening in the previous row of sweetgrass, just big enough for the palmetto ribbon, and insert the pointed end of the palmetto ribbon up and through the sweetgrass.
We learned how to “refill” the sweetgrass bundle as we came to the ends of the strands. The goal is to keep the sweetgrass consistent and smooth while taking evenly spaced stitches with the palmetto. After weaving three full circles, we added a hanging loop at the top.
The class was before Christmas so many of the participants decorated their wreaths with red berries and holiday greenery. Since I wanted to display my wreath year-round, I decided to take it home to decorate. I wanted to find a way to embellish it with dried flowers. The flowers shown below, globe amaranth, came from the cutting garden I grew this past year. You can read more about that experience in the post Zinnias Rock! And More Cutting Garden Tips. Note that in the post I was disappointed with the globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) I had planted. But it rallied later in the season and I was able to harvest a huge quantity of magenta, mauve and cream blooms like those pictured below.
After some trial and error, I decided to make a small bow from palmetto frond and add a simple bunch of magenta blossoms.
I’m pleased to share my very own sweet sweetgrass wreath with special thanks to Daurus Niles and the Coastal Discovery Museum.
More Info
The Coastal Discovery Museum, on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, offers a number of activities including tours and workshops. You can learn more about their Sweetgrass Basketry classes here.
There’s a great article about Daurus Niles, The Gullah Dream Weaver, in the Hilton Head Local Life magazine. Check it out here. Daurus is quoted as saying “Who would’ve thought you could take materials from the earth and make art that’s displayed all over the world? We started out doing this as a way of life, and it’s still a way of life, and now we’re being displayed at the Smithsonian Museum and the White House.”
You can see the sweetgrass baskets at the Smithsonian American Art Museum here.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Many of today’s art forms are rooted in the making of functional items that were once required for daily life.
2. It’s fascinating to trace the passing of knowledge and skills from generation to generation.
3. Consider ways to learn about and help preserve traditional arts and crafts.
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