Environmental Significance
The Black Ash tree grows around the Great Lakes Region, in southeastern Canada and northeastern United States (“Black Ash”). It is useful for weaving because its wood is “soft but durable and it separates easily into thin layers” (“Black Ash”). Therefore the Anishnabe have been using black ash to make baskets for hundreds of years (Parrish, 2009). Parrish discusses how the use of Black Ash for women "is very significant, because it’s the part of this piece that carries the culture within it" (Parrish, 2016). Black Ash gathering is a very difficult process in which many steps are needed to procure a usable product. This can be seen in this video ("The Black Ash Basket Maker"). This process for Parrish is very similar to "how my great-great grandparents did it, and even my ancestors before them... and gathering black ash has always been a communal process" (Parrish, 2016). However, the population of Black Ash trees are decreasing rapidly due to the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an invasive insect that has destroyed over 20 million ash trees since 2002 (Parrish, 2009). Parrish and other Indigenous women, have worked to save Black Ash trees in their area by "gathering and storing black ash seeds to help sustain the trees for the use of future generations" (Parrish, 2009). Historically Indigenous women have made incredible "contributions to sustainability" (McGregor). Parrish, along with other Native American women in the area, continues this tradition by "working to raise awareness about the EAB and Black Ash basketry" and they ultimately wants to replant the ash seeds and use the black ash trees for future generations ("Protecting Black Ash Trees").
For further reading:
Emerald Ash Borer Invasion of North America: History, Biology, Ecology, Impacts, and Management
Emerald Ash Borer: Invasion of the Urban Forest and the Threat to North America’s Ash Resource