THE BASKET PROJECT

The Basket Project is a continuing project which brings elders together with women and two spirit people to share the customary practice of basket-making as a way of opening space to honour themselves and their community in the wake of the colonial legacy of sexual abuse. The project was initiated by artist Michèle Mackasey who has family ties to the community of Patuanak. This is how she learned of the need for personal and collective healing. When Michèle began speaking with Patuanak community members about the legacy of abuse, she was overwhelmed with the deeply personal responses. It seemed as though anyone she talked to had a story about a friend or family member affected by such violence. Some spoke of tragically losing their loved ones to suicide after not having an outlet to talk about their experience. 

The Basket Project began in December 2019 with an initial meeting between Michèle, Judy, and mental health therapists in Patuanak. This meeting was followed by creative workshops with participants in January and February 2020. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel to the North was suspended and so were the creative workshops. This opened space for aspects of the project that hadn’t found a place in the original timeline. During the spring and summer, two of the community’s basket makers created baskets in honour of those who had been deeply affected by sexual violence. These baskets contained private messages for loved ones written by Patuanak community members and became part of a healing ceremony. At the end of the summer we held an outdoor two-day basket making camp on the beach, led by Elders and basket makers. This beautiful setting allowed for personal distancing in small groups, with easy access for gathering natural basket materials. As circumstances have changed throughout the project, new facets have been allowed to evolve in ways that may have made the project richer as a result.

The development of this program prioritized a trauma-informed approach, supported by Mental Health Therapists at the Patuanak Health Clinic who guided the project. The Basket Project aimed to change the atmosphere of silence and stigma and replace it with an atmosphere of support and acceptance. The gentle warmth and guidance of the elders became the first level of acceptance within the community. The program began with creative workshops at the Health Clinic and, later in the year, the elders shared the customary art of basket making, mentoring participants in all stages of the process, from going out on the land and collecting materials to learning hands-on the basketry lineages of the community. Held within the repetitive acts of sewing baskets and preparing materials together is the potential for building community cohesion and lessening isolation. In these communal activities people tend to share stories and thoughts in a way that doesn’t happen in their regularly busy life. The trust and permission to speak that was nurtured during these sessions has led to important conversations that proved crucial and timely, especially for youth who had become particularly vulnerable during the pandemic isolation. Mental Health Therapists were available throughout to support participants.