Previous || Home || Next
LAVINA DAY
Wanaasin (Flys Well Nicely)
Chippewa
Wallaceburg, Ontario
Wanaasin (Flys Well Nicely)
Chippewa
Wallaceburg, Ontario
Lavina Day has lived on the Walpole Island Reservation in Ontario, Canada, since her birth in 1912. She learned basketmaking from her mother, grandmother, and aunt. They taught her how to locate and prepare natural materials like black ash and sweetgrass, and passed on traditional weaving and braiding patterns, forms, and techniques. Day is recognized as a master basketmaker within her community and has managed to teach the necessary skills to some of her seven sons. Son Maury makes sweetgrass baskets with her; together they travel to pow wows to sell their work.
Like other traditional basketmakers in the Great Lakes region, Day has developed a style that reflects regional patterns and construction techniques. Her distinctive baskets, which incorporate sweetgrass and the use of specific colors and color combinations (especially teal and deep pink), make her work easily recognizable. The rich colors of her baskets are achieved by the use of commercial dyes that are no longer available.