We will learn about traditional lifeways, culture, ecological knowledge, foods, medicines, and utilitarian plants. The instructor, Stephanie Craig, will share family belongings and tools that have been passed down for generations. In this workshop, students will learn proper gathering, processing, cleaning, and storage methods of the Juncus plant. We will practice multiple traditional weaving techniques, including a variety of starts and rims. At the end of the workshop, students will take home a finished woven Juncus basket.
Instructor biography
Stephanie Craig is a seventh-generation traditional basket weaver and is a Chinook, Kalapuya, Rogue River, Umpqua, and an enrolled Grand Ronde Tribal member, Oregon Culture Keeper, Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) practitioner, and cultural museum consultant. Stephanie grew up listening to her great, great Aunties, Grandmother and Tribal Elders talking and actively using basketry that has been a part of their family for over 100 years. She has been weaving and teaching for 17+ years.
Stephanie received a Bachelor of Arts degree in cultural anthropology, with an emphasis on Northwest Native American cultures. She fulfilled her college language requirement with her Native American language, Chinuk Wawa. Stephanie also holds an interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree in cultural anthropology (Western Oregon Native American cultures), cultural museum studies (collections, interpretation, and education), and folklore (oral histories).
Stephanie has completed internships at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American Indian Archives Department, the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, as well as with many traditional basket weavers.
Stephanie is committed to preserving her cultural practices for future generations and to continue on the traditions of the Elders. She is the owner of Kalapuya Weaving and Consulting, recipient of the Oregon Folklife Network TAAP Grant, The Evergreen Longhouse Grant, and the Oregon Arts Commission Grant. Her basketry can be seen at the Seattle Children’s Museum, The Burke Museum, Chachalu Museum, Linn County Historical Museum, Independence Heritage Museum, and others. Stephanie and her family live in the traditional homelands of her Mother’s people, the Kalapuya, on her Father’s 150-year-old family farm.
Click here to view and download workshop flyer
