The Logan Museum of Anthropology is honored to host Pokagon Potawatomi Black Ash Baskets: Our Storytellers, an exhibit developed and curated by Dr. John Low and the Field Museum of Chicago. For the Pokagon band of Potawatomi, basket weaving has a rich cultural history and plays an important role in identity and cultural continuity today. The exhibit goes beyond the history and utility of black ash baskets, exploring the connections between craft, federal recognition, tribal resilience, and the ongoing ecological threats to traditional ways of life for the Pokagon people.

Handmade black ash baskets are regarded as living members of the Pokagon community. The baskets tell stories about culture, artistry, and the families that keep basket weaving traditions alive. “The Pokagon Potawatomi peoples are familiar with the traditions of our ancestors and know the multiplicity of stories within baskets. The baskets — assumed silent, static, and lifeless — speak to many of us,” says Dr. John Low, the exhibit’s co-curator.

Throughout the course of U.S. colonial history, Pokagon traditional basket weaving was nearly lost as Indigenous cultural practices were systematically outlawed by the federal government. Our Storytellers highlights how the fight for federal tribal recognition of the Pokagon band of Potawatomi was deeply rooted in the resurgence of the black ash basket weaving tradition. Today, prominent Pokagon artists have gained national recognition for the artistic and cultural value of their contemporary baskets. The practice is nevertheless under threat again, this time by ecological factors including climate change and the introduction of invasive species like the emerald ash borer.

Pokagon Potawatomi Black Ash Baskets: Our Storytellers is now open in the second floor Shaw Gallery at the Logan Museum of Anthropology. The exhibit will feature handmade baskets by prominent members of the Pokagon band of Potawatomi, and a media piece that features Agnes Rapp and other basket makers at work. Our Storytellers will be on exhibit for the public until February 21, 2025.

The Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College is a teaching museum that engages the Beloit community by sharing stories about humanity. The Logan Museum is free and open to the community every week Tuesday – Saturday 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, closed holidays and college breaks. Check the museum website for programming announcements and updates to opening times.