- December 18, 2024
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To make her baskets, Kathy Josenhans gathers pine needles from the ground before weaving them into a pattern in a process known as coiling. Creating baskets out of pine needles is a Native American craft that has been passed down for many years and, for Josenhans, making these pine needle baskets is a way to work from the earth and educate others while keeping alive the tradition of basket coiling.
The Port Orange resident, who is originally from Tennessee, started out using vines and grass before transitioning to pine needles. It is not only a craft that Josenhans enjoys as a hobby but as a way to teach the younger generation about the cultural heritage that surrounds the history of basket making.
“It’s culture, it’s heritage, and if we don't continue it, it’s going to die,” Josenhans said. “It’s important to stay rooted to your ancestors.”
The Port Orange resident, who started basket weaving when she was in third or fourth grade, was one of the many participants at the Native American Earth Festival on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22.
Participating both days was Jim Sawgrass Boettner, a member of the Muskogee Creek Indian Tribe, and an active participant of local festivals and powwows. Sawgrass served on the Florida Indian Council from 1991 to 1995 and has a passion for sharing his knowledge of Southeastern Native American tribes.
"I like educating the public on Native people that were here for thousands of years," Sawgrass said. "The importance is to let the public know about Native people and that there are still lots of Native people around. They keep a lot of the old traditions around."
Some of those traditions include showcasing basket weaving, like Josenhans has done, while others take the form of dances. Sawgrass's son, Cody Boettner, is one of those people who has mastered the dances and the evolution of how those dances are performed.
Boettner has been performing these dances since he was a child and said that his parents had encouraged him to be with other people participating in powwow dances. Boettner said that dancing has been a way to educate while keeping the old dances alive. But he said that the dancing has also changed over time — a fact he has embraced as a new generation learns about their culture.
"It's important because there's a lot of things that we've lost over the years," Boettner said. "There's a lot of people who don't necessarily know their own culture, but through circumstances we've been able to keep our history alive."
And like Boettner, a new generation is learning the steps of the people before them. Boettner said families still get children involved in dance circles at a young age. According to Boettner, these children are seeing the dancers and hearing the drums and absorbing their surroundings, something he believes will stay with them as they get older.
"These are traditions that our ancestors before us had," Boettner said. "It could easily be lost if we don't keep it going."
