Ensuring a Legacy of Longleaf

The longleaf pine was built by fire. Long before suppression became the norm, fires once naturally occurred every two to 10 years, ensuring the longleaf received the flames it was made to withstand. Today, there's no question that bringing back the longleaf means bringing back fire.

Traditionally, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas used controlled burns not only to manage their lands but also to maintain trade routes and even hunt. In 2012, the tribe planted over 200 acres of longleaf seedlings. Now mostly mature, these longleafs are stewarded with prescribed fire by the tribe's Wildland Fire Management crew. 

Headed by Gesse Bullock, the Wildland Fire Management team is working hard to remove competing vegetation, create healthier stands through thinning, and put nutrients back into the soil. Ultimately, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas hopes to restore and preserve nearly 400 acres of longleaf pine forest on tribal lands with prescribed fire playing a leading role in this endeavor.

Needle harvesting is the first step in traditional basket weaving. Harvesters thoughtfully select fully grown needles, free of blemishes or signs of insects. As needles are gathered, it's important that the collector does so with a happy and clear state of mind. Like all aspects of basket weaving, what you feel is woven into the basket, taking on one's emotions and energy.

Once chosen, the needle clusters are carefully pulled from their branches, or fascicles, ensuring that the longleaf isn't hurt or impacted by the harvesting. The needles are then dried for at least a month, depending on the color the weaver seeks to incorporate in their basket design.

Before restoration efforts began, traditional basket weavers of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas had to travel to Louisiana to harvest needles. But now, mature longleaf stands on tribal lands are ensuring this resource is more readily available.

Intricate and detailed, the art of basket weaving is one being passed down from Elders to generations of tribal citizens. With each new weaver, this tradition lives on, giving life to the longleaf in an exceptional way while preserving a piece of the Alabama-Coushatta's history.

Basket-making is a detailed process that takes patience and creative vision. Once dried, weavers bundle the longleaf needles and coil them into baskets using raffia and sewing needles. Finished baskets are often decorated with pinecones, vibrant raffia flowers, or geometric patterns. Some advanced weavers have even crafted elaborate baskets in the shape of local wildlife and other animals.

Like harvesting, weaving requires a positive state of mind. Intertwining adverse thoughts into a basket as it's woven and filling it with negative energy are considered bad practices. In fact, as a weaver works on a new creation, sometimes the best thing to do is simply set the basket down until they can return to it with contentment and pride.