On Friday September 25th, CAE co-hosted a black ash splint pounding workshop at the Atkins Field Pavillion. The workshop was co-facilitated by Joanne Garton from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources as well as Kerry and Aaron Wood, Abenaki educators and basket makers. It was a beautiful September day to gather outside, and about 25 community members participated throughout the day. 

Our time together started with an opening circle, which included a fiddle tune and the Thanksgiving Address, spoken in the Abenaki language. After that we learned about the history of black ash trees in Vermont and some of the concerns about the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) and its impact on our native black ash population. We also learned that there are three types of ash trees in Vermont: in addition to black ash, there are also white and green ash. Unfortunately, all three are threatened by the emerald ash borer, and have no known resistance to these small invasive insects, who feed and burrow inside their trunks. EAB was first discovered in the Midwest in 2002. Less than ten years ago, in 2018, it was discovered in Vermont. If you're interested in learning more, click here.

After learning about ash trees, we got to work! First, we stripped the bark from the trees, which had been harvested ahead of time. We learned about how to pound the logs to separate the wood, where the growth rings are found, from the cambium, which is the layer between the bark and the wood. After that, we were able to run long strips, or splints, down the length of the tree. Once they were separated from the log, we also got the chance to try splitting the splints into thinner pieces, which makes them easier to weave with, but is REALLY tricky! 

There were some beautiful examples of black ash basketry for people to admire. We even got to take a walk to the back of the property to visit a healthy stand of black ash on the property, which was recently treated for emerald ash borer.

Thank you to everyone who came out and joined us for this special event! It's something we hope to be able to offer again in the future!