Paul St. John: Sweet Grass and Quill White Crow Basket

Paul St. John 

Paul St. John 

Paul St. John 

Paul St. John 

Paul St. John 

A rare white crow with Wabanaki double-curve symbols of porcupine quill enhance this basket by Mohawk craftsman, Paul St.  John. With the use of the natural brown tips of the quills, St. John accents the wing, legs and neck of this strutting bird. The addition of the double curve with triangles at center Wabanaki design at top and bottom makes for more nice design elements.

This basket is one of St. John's larger-sized, coiled tidal sweetgrass, round, sewing baskets. It is 8-inches in diameter and  3.5-inches high. The birch bark medallion at center top is 6.5-inches in diameter.  There is a braided border of tidal sweetgrass around the lid's birchbark medallion.

Paul's Passamaquoddy (his mother's tribe) name is the word for "crow" -- Kahkakuhs. The crow is a highly-intelligent bird with a sassy attitude. Paul's rendition of this crow hints at both its intellect and attitude. A white/albino crow is rare, and several Native American tribes  -- including the Kiowa and Sioux -- have legends and stories about white crows.

St. John makes coiled tidal sweetgrass baskets with a variety of animals and bird (and some floral designs), created with porcupine quills on their lids.  
  Paul St. John lives in Maine, near his mother's family. She is Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and MicMac.  He grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York (his father's homeland) and is an enrolled Mohawk tribal member. While quill work and coiled sweetgrass baskets are historically Maine Native traditional crafts, currently no one in Maine but Paul St. John is actively practicing this craft. Passamaquoddy basketmakers, Jeremy Frey and Otter, both have used some quill work on their baskets -- but quill work on coiled sweetgrass baskets are Paul St. John's specialty.