David Richard

Richard David (Tchawcnneke)
MICMAC/EEL CLAN
rdavid@akwesasne.ca

Richard David makes utility baskets including hampers, pack baskets and wedding baskets. One of a long line of basketmakers, which includes his mother Lenora, Richard David studied with master basketmaker Henry Arquette at Akwesasne. Arquette taught him the process of collecting and pounding ash from “standing tree to finished baskets.”

Each of David’s baskets begins with the selection of the black ash tree. These straight, slow-growing trees are prized because they provide the best natural material for making baskets. The log is hauled home where the bark is removed with a drawshave knife before being pounded with the back of an axe. Because hauling and pounding take considerable strength, they are, traditionally, men’s work. Deeply interested in the conservation of the tree and its connection to basketmaking, Richard David and Les Benedict co-authored Handbook for Block Ash Preservation, Reforestation/Regeneration. David also lectures and demonstrates basketmaking throughout the United States and Canada.