Of Palm Baskets and Legacies

We're going to take a break from the drama and temporarily return to the more relaxing environment of Andros.

To broaden our article, Jeremiah and I sought out the basket weavers of Red Bays. Using primarily Silver Top Palm and cloth made at the island's Androsia batik factory, the weavers sew elaborate baskets and hangings. The pictures in this post were shot by Jeremiah Wilson.

Here, a steady rhythm builds as Peggy Colebrooke weaves her bread and butter. You can almost count how many times it takes to unite each piece of silver top palm with those already woven into the bottom of a basket-in-progress. A soft "thtumph!" sound, which echoes the twang made when pulling a taut rubber band, eases into the air as she slides the needle strung with the palm piece into a coil of leaves started that day.

By the time she has woven a dirty-yellow palm piece into the coil 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 times, it will have almost melted into design. The basket will join many others woven by Colebrooke, her aunt, Vangie, and others in the settlement as they wait for passing customers. Some baskets sit on a table outside Vangie's house, others hang from the porch ceiling and wooden supports.

Like many of the other artists in the settlement, Colebrooke will sometimes have to wait for weeks for the scarce customer to purchase her goods. When we were there, she hadn't sold a basket in two weeks.

A woven basket that stands almost as tall as a man's waist sits unbought in the corner of William "Scrap Iron" Colebrooke's navy blue house. Colebrooke is famous for weaving baskets so large that person can fit in them. But nobody has bought one of his pieces for at least six months. He says a man who commissioned the basket agreed to pay $800 for it, but he never coame to pick it up. Colebrooke says people complain that his baskets are too large to carry on the small charter planes most visitors use. He said he has stopped weaving. He feeds himself by hunting iguana and other animals. Along with woodcarver Henry Wallace, Scrap Iron has taught weaving at the The Maritime Arts and Inspiration Center founded by Peter Davidson, a guide on our trip.

Both Peggy and Scrap Iron were taught by Omelia Marshall, the mother of the basket weaving. An inoperable goiter hangs from her neck like a fleshy melon. The almost 90-year-old sits in her black house and weaves the art that made her famous. A woven hat decorated with a plastic gold tiara sits atop her head. She is the community of Red Bays personified; old, clever and strong.

I'm going to return to my normal blogging topics after this post. But I'll probably continue to post photos once in a while. On that subject: Here is a picture of the man behind the camera, Jeremiah Wilson. I call it "Tired."