Kelly Church brings her cultural heritage and environmental activism into her art as a fifth-generation Odawa-Ojibwe basket weaver. She uses the black ash tree for her baskets, and she explains the role the tree plays in a heritage that dates back before this country existed as the United States. She lives in Hopkins, Michigan, but her baskets are on exhibit nationwide.
“I come from one of the largest black ash weaving families in the Great Lakes,” Church says. “We’ve been weaving baskets since before this country existed. We were documented in newspapers in the 1850s. There are old newspapers talking about our families and the black ash basketmaking. My grandfather was the one who got me going on this track that I am on today.”
Church cared for her grandfather when he had Alzheimer’s. She listened to his stories about his mother, who was also a basket weaver. She gave away her baskets as a token of gratitude, and when Church realized that her grandfather wanted to do something similar, she decided to learn the craft. Her father, Bill Church, helped her learn more about basket weaving.
“The first thing you have to do is go into the woods and look for black ash trees that are still alive,” Church says. “With the Emerald Ash Borer that has become very tricky today. The dead trees are not viable.”
A live tree can be harvested and the growth rings popped loose by hammering on the tree. These are then used for weaving. Harvested trees are replaced by planting seeds for new growth. Church’s baskets are eye-catching with their unusual designs and colors, sometimes incorporating other materials such as copper.
“It’s about much more than just weaving baskets,” Church says. “It’s about bringing community together. You can’t harvest a tree and do everything by yourself. It’s working together to make the basket. It’s weaving together utilitarian items you might need. It’s a tradition that our people held onto throughout all of these years—and to me, that makes it important.”
Kelly Church is a Pottawatomi-Ottawa-Ojibwe black ash basket maker, fiber artist, educator, activist and culture keeper. She has dedicated her life to sharing knowledge about working with black ash trees as well as the damaging effects of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer on these trees and how that impacts cultural traditions.
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