Baskets of Gold: Preserving an African-American Tradition

One of my quibbles with Star Trek is that the People of the Future apparently have no interest in creating anything by hand, which seems to me to be a basic human urge. Even today, when it's cheaper to buy a bedspread from Wal-Mart than to make a quilt, or to buy bread, instead of teaching children how to bake it, African-Americans along the Georgia and South Carolina Sea Islands keep alive their age-old craft of making sweetgrass baskets. Tracing the historical link between West African basket makers and the rice plantations in the Southeast, this documentary notes that what had been a practical art for 300 years became an important source of cash income early in this century. Small roadside stands sprouted along the Sea Islands and at the Charleston Market where basket makers hoped to earn a few tourist dollars. Two women recall that in their families, learning to make sweetgrass baskets was "mandatory"; there was no way to opt out from helping supplement the family income. Today, however, the making of baskets is clearly a labor of love, and the affection the interviewees show for their work reflects not only the time and effort put into the making, but also honors the memory of a grandmother or mother who passed on the skill. As the area has become ever more popular with tourists and snowbirds, though, the Gullah descendants of Africa are having trouble finding their sweetgrass. Now islands are bought up whole as private resorts and closed to the people who have used them for hundreds of years. Sprawling development is also a serious threat to the little roadside stands which are being squeezed out by the shopping plazas and high-speed six-lane highways. "It's progress," says one older basket maker without a trace of irony. "You can't stop progress." This thought-provoking tape should be in most public libraries and should be strongly considered for high schools and colleges as well. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)