PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 29, 2024
Scientists and tribes are racing against time to protect a sacred tree at the heart of the Wabanaki basket-making tradition from an invasive beetle that is eating its way across Maine, pushing the tree species and maybe even the tradition to the edge of functional extinction. “The situation for our cultural heritage and art form is dire indeed,” said Theresa Secord, a basketmaker from the Penobscot Nation and founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance. The Penobscot artist also worries about how she and other master basketmakers can pass this cultural tradition on to the next generation without reliable access to healthy brown ash, the pliant, sturdy wood that Wabanaki weavers have used for generations.