One MSU Museum exhibit is bound for the nation's capital.
More than 1 million people are expected to view the MSU Museum's American Indian basket weaving exhibit, "Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions," at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 30-July 4 and July 7-11 in Washington, D.C.
The festival is an annual event held by the Smithsonian Institution at the National Mall featuring three main exhibits showing different cultural traditions.
"I think it's quite an honor for us to help produce (the festival)," said Lora Helou, the MSU Museum spokeswoman. "The affiliation with the Smithsonian is something we are proud of. … more important than that is the opportunity to tap into their audience and share this work with their broad audience."
MSU Museum faculty curators C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell thought the basket exhibit was something the Smithsonian Folklife Festival would be interested in featuring, Helou said.
"The two curators from here have been documenting native basket traditions for years and approached the Smithsonian," she said.
Both Dewhurst and MacDowell are in South Africa for a study abroad Museum Studies Program and are scheduled to return next week. They will be in Washington, D.C., during the festival to give exhibit tours for a more in-depth appreciation of the basket-weaving tradition, Helou said.
The exhibit will include about 80 American Indian basket makers demonstrating the process of weaving.
"People will not just see beautiful artifacts but have a deeper awareness and appreciation of these traditions," Helou said.
Kelly Church, a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, is a fifth-generation basket weaver and will be demonstrating at the festival.
Preparing the wood for weaving is 75 percent of the work, the Hopkins, Mich. resident said. The baskets are weaved out of black ash, a tree found in Michigan swamplands. In order to get the wood into the silk-like bendable strips, the tree has to be pounded, split and scraped before it can be weaved.
"It really takes the family; we get our brothers and friends (and) we all get together and pound," she said.
Becky Haberacker, spokeswoman for the Smithsonian Institute, said the focus is both on the baskets and the individuals who make them.
"We are taking a look at how basket weavers are literally and figuratively carriers of culture. The baskets are used in food preparation and in dance," Haberacker said. "It's not only the baskets but the artists who create the baskets."
