Black ash trees grow in isolated pockets of cool, wet ground throughout the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada. Truly unique in its ability to separate along the annual layers, it has been used by Native American basketmakers for perhaps thousands of years. I strip an 8-10 log of its bark then pound its length with a steel mallet. Having crushed the spongy fibers between the growth layers, I can peel long strips from the log. These strips are sliced to width and shaved with a knife to a smooth finish.

For rims and handles, I split lengths of shagbark hickory into billets with froe and mallet. For each basket I carve these pieces into handles and rims, bend them to shape, and lash them securely to the basket.